By Norihiko Shirouzu and Abhirup Roy AUSTIN (Reuters) -Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has signed legislation requiring a state permit to operate self-driving vehicles just before Tesla's planned launch of a robotaxi trial on Sunday in Austin,

June 22 (UPI) -- Tesla will begin its launch of robotic taxis in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, Elon Musk announced. "The @Tesla_AI robotaxi launch begins in Austin this afternoon with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee!" Musk said in a post on social media.

In ramping up robotaxi service, Tesla is hoping to slingshot past Waymo, another autonomous car service that operates in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, according to its website. Last week, Waymo applied for a permit to test its vehicles in New York City.