A study conducted by researchers at Southern Methodist University suggests that fully autonomous vehicles could potentially reduce traffic delays in the Dallas-Fort Worth region by as much as 33 percent, without the need for new highway lanes. This finding comes as Texas positions itself as a leader in the driverless vehicle industry, with commercial routes already operational.
The research, led by Khaled Abdelghany, was supported by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute's travel forecasting program and funded in part by the region's council of governments. The study involved running 25 traffic simulations for the year 2045, examining scenarios with full, half, and quarter adoption of autonomous vehicles compared to a baseline scenario with no such vehicles.
In the fully automated scenario, traffic delays dropped by up to 33 percent, and time spent in congested traffic decreased by at least 19 percent.
The underlying reason for these improvements is linked to the driving patterns of human operators. According to Abdelghany, human drivers often create traffic jams due to inconsistent braking and spacing, which autonomous vehicles could help alleviate through more coordinated driving.
In terms of congestion, Dallas was ranked as the 17th most congested city in the United States in 2024, with drivers losing approximately 36 hours annually to traffic.
Texas has already made significant strides in the driverless freight sector. Aurora Innovation initiated commercial driverless deliveries between Dallas and Houston in late April 2025, marking the first such service in the nation. The trucks operate along the I-45 corridor, which is a vital route as nearly half of Texas truck freight travels between these two cities.
Aurora has also expanded its operations with an additional route from Fort Worth to El Paso and plans to deploy hundreds of trucks.
Other companies, including Kodiak Robotics, Waymo Via, Gatik, Plus, and Waabi, are also active in the state, making Texas a central hub for autonomous trucking. In the passenger sector, Waymo has been operating a paid robotaxi service in Austin and began offering rides to select users in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio in February 2026, with plans for broader availability later in the year.
While the rise of driverless vehicles raises questions about job displacement, many roles will still be necessary. Positions such as technicians, remote operators, and staff for terminals and maintenance facilities will be essential. Industry projections indicate that autonomous vehicles could contribute approximately $70 billion to the U.S. GDP and save consumers about $9 billion annually by 2030.
Additionally, McKinsey estimates that the sector could create around 9 million jobs worldwide by that year.