AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla is once again expanding its Robotaxi service area.

The autonomous cars will now operate within an area of 173 square miles. It comes after an expansion earlier this month to cover nearly 80 square miles. The expansion brings the service further northwest and southeast.

Competitor Waymo, which operates through Uber, recently expanded its service area to 90 square miles of Austin.

Tesla also increased its fleet by 50% and now operates as many as 30 vehicles in Austin.

The Robotaxi expansion comes days ahead of a potential public launch next month.

Tesla's ride-hailing service launched in June and is currently limited to invited users, with safety monitors onboard.

CEO Elon Musk said the service could become publicly available in September.

The Model Y cars run

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