D.C. could take a step toward allowing autonomous vehicles, including robotaxis, to operate on city streets.
The D.C. Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment will hold a public hearing Monday that could lay the groundwork for companies operating autonomous vehicles, or AVs, in the District.
Until now, companies including Waymo and Zoox have been participating in a pilot program that requires human drivers to be in the vehicles to take control in an emergency.
Authored by Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, the 聽would allow the commercial deployment of AVs offering rideshare services in the District of Columbia.
Proponents say autonomous vehicles are already safer than the average human driver. In addition, AVs can provide more equitable access to rideshare services throughout the city and accommodate people with disabilities.
The bill would establish a commercial autonomous vehicle program within D.C.’s Department of Transportation, which would issue permits for commercial AVs. Applicants would have to submit a first responder interaction plan to ensure that law enforcement and emergency personnel can safely interact with AVs, as well as contingency plans for operational challenges including power outages and network failures.
Under the bill, commercial vehicles would be phased in, and until Jan. 1, 2028,聽operators would be “limited to 200 vehicles.”
The bill would establish a vehicle miles traveled – or VMT – tax of 15 cents per mile that “encourages AV operators to minimize passenger-less operations and circuitous routing.”
Opponents say bill could eradicate drivers’ livelihoods聽
Before the public hearing, opponents will hold a protest and news conference outside the Wilson Building.
Several unions, including those representing workers who rely on Uber and Lyft as their primary or supplemental source of income, will urge the council to put the brakes on the bill.
Pointing to San Francisco, “Waymo absorbed nearly 30 percent of the rideshare market in just 20 months. In most cities where autonomous vehicles have been introduced, driver pay has already dropped,” a news release said. “This is less money not only for drivers and their families, but less support for D.C. businesses and public services.”
One of the workers’ unions joining the protest, called 32BJ SEIU, said it represents over 20,000 Black and Brown building cleaners, security officers and airport workers in the D.C. area.
“Over 40% of the employees are part-time workers, many who rely on earning additional income through Uber or Lyft to make ends meet,” the release said.
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