There was an interesting side-note in Tesla’s last earnings call, where they explained the main challenge of releasing Full-Self Driving (supervised!) in China was a quirk of Chinese roads: the bus-only lanes.
Well, jeez, we have bus-only lanes here in Chicago, too. Like many other American metropolises… including Austin TX, where Tesla plans to rollout unsupervised autonomous vehicles in a matter of weeks.
That got me wondering. If Tesla leadership is surprised to see timed bus-only lanes in China, how have they been handling bus-only lanes in the American markets where they are currently operational?
Not great, as it turns out. Here are 3 videos that capture the problem on camera.
This Tesla Treats Bus Lanes Like Any Open Lane: Fair Game
“I didn’t know that was a $110 ticket…”
Recently, this driver got a $110 automatic ticket and points on their license for this tomfoolery as their FSD drove straight through a bus-only lane. Easy as could be, bright red lane to avoid, and the Tesla drives right through it. Oof!
Before any Tesla fans spill in here with what-about-isms or Version Number questions (before claiming that every single issue has been patched out in the most recent software update), this was from a few months ago.
This FSD Demo is a Total Mess: Blocks a Bus Lane, Runs a Red Light, Just Plain Bad
“That bus driver gave me a look…”
I’m sort of in awe of this Tesla FSD demo.
First, it’s billed as an unvarnished success… the best drive in three years, zero interventions!
That’s nuts. There are obvious problems, and the fact that the driver didn’t intervene is awful.
The main error? It runs a red light while the driver is distracted and fiddling with the nav. That’s horrible. F minus, the worst possible performance. The Tesla fan behind the wheel explains that that is totally something that human drivers do, and therefore, OK for him to let his computer do. Not OK. Obviously. What the hell!
A secondary error? It blocks a bus lane, gets honked at by a CTA bus (welcome to Chicago!), and then just sort of lazily drifts around in the bus lane. My best analogy is a drunk driver. It’s legitimately poor performance. I’m sad to see Tesla fans testing their beta software in these dangerous situations.
This FSD Demo is Titled by the Driver: “FSD Thinks It’s a Bus.”
“We’re in the bus lane! That’s really, really weird.”
Those two were very recent. Can we zoom in and see how Tesla FSD treats the bus lane specifically, though?
Turns out, we sure can. Tesla FSD apparently has no reliable idea of what the bus-lane is, and treats it as a wide-open lane. Neato! (That’s sarcasm, it’s not neato, and the city’s automatic cameras charge you up to $250 every time you do this.)
You can see the driver’s hand hover over the steering wheel, as though he’s thinking about not letting his car hang out in the bus lane. But then he lets it ride. Why not! (Laws. The laws are why you don’t do that. I don’t have $250 to blow every time I drive downtown for these dumb automatic tickets.)
God, watching these videos is so SWEATY. I’ve driven these downtown streets a thousand times. This is where I learned to drive. I’ve never felt more scared in my hometown than watching these doofuses drive (or rather, let their Teslas drive themselves).
So No, Not a China-Only Problem: Tesla FSD Just Can’t Reliably Drive Around Bus-Only Lanes
Tesla’s confusion around bus-only lanes isn’t a charming little China-specific challenge. It’s a glaring, global problem with how their self-driving tech interprets basic road markings.
Bus lanes exist across the USA, in places like New York, San Fran, Austin, and yes, Chicago. It’s not some niche traffic pattern. It’s something any learner’s permit holder would know.
If Tesla’s Full-Self Driving can’t reliably spot and respect a big bright red lane marked “BUS ONLY,” it isn’t ready for prime time without a human standing by to intervene. Following road signs is the easy part of driving a car. Adapting to the thousands of one-off situations you’ll find on American highways, that’s the hard part.
So, if the goal is a car that drives better than a drunk tourist from Schaumburg, Tesla’s got a long way to go. And precious little time to get there if they plan to stay on schedule for their Austin TX self-driving taxi rollout.
