Robotaxi glossary.

A UK permit, available since May 2026, to run taxi, private-hire or bus-like services with self-driving vehicles and no driver on board.

Granted by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, with the consent of the local licensing authority; in London that is Transport for London. See the UK rules.

An open standard from the Open Mobility Foundation that lets cities and companies describe kerb zones, the rules on them and what happens there.

A staging area drawn once in CDS can be read by every operator. See the Open Mobility Foundation.

Driving without a passenger: repositioning, waiting for the next request, or heading to a pickup, a charger or a depot.

In California, more than 40% of Waymo's miles are driven empty. See Where do robotaxis go between rides?

The operator's own site where robotaxis are charged, cleaned and repaired, usually away from the city centre where land is cheaper.

Different from a staging area, which is close to demand and for waiting. See How do robotaxis charge, and where?

A vehicle that drives itself, and handles anything that goes wrong, within its operational design domain, without expecting a person to take over.

The levels come from the SAE J3016 standard. At Level 3 a person must be ready to take over when asked; at Level 5 the vehicle can drive anywhere a person could. Robotaxis are Level 4. See SAE J3016.

An open standard from the Open Mobility Foundation for cities and mobility companies to exchange data about vehicles in the public right of way.

Used today mostly for shared scooters and bikes. See the Open Mobility Foundation.

The area an authority has approved a driverless vehicle to run in. Outside it, the vehicle may not drive itself.

Approved locally: by the federal state in Germany, the canton in Switzerland, the Road Directorate in Denmark. See Robotaxi rules in Europe.

The conditions a self-driving system is designed to work in: which roads and areas, at what times, in what weather and traffic.

A Level 4 vehicle drives itself only inside its ODD. Defined in SAE J3016.

A place set aside for passengers to get in or out, for seconds to a minute or two.

Not for waiting between rides; that is a staging area.

A person outside the vehicle who can take over or instruct it when needed.

Danish law calls this person the operator; German law has a technical supervisor.

A taxi that drives itself: a Level 4 vehicle that carries passengers on demand within an approved area.

Who runs them in Europe is in Robotaxi companies in Europe.

A trained person in the driver's seat of a self-driving vehicle, ready to take over, during testing or early service.

Every robotaxi carrying passengers in London still has one. See Robotaxis in London.

A place set aside for robotaxis to wait between rides, like a taxi rank: a fixed number of spots, with rules on who may use it, when and for how long.

Set aside by a city or a property, close to demand. See What is a robotaxi staging area?

Under German law, the person who must be able to switch a driverless vehicle off and approve manoeuvres it proposes, without driving it.

Required for every Level 4 vehicle in Germany. See § 1d of the Road Traffic Act.

Approval of a vehicle design before it may be sold or registered. In the EU, fully automated vehicles can be approved only in small series, at most 1,500 of a type a year.

Under Regulation (EU) 2022/1426. See the Federal Motor Transport Authority.