Robotaxis could be allowed on D.C. streets under a new bill that lays out the rules of the road for autonomous vehicles, providing an alternative to Ubers and Lyfts or traditional taxis.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), chairman of its transportation committee, had previously said he would wait on a study from the D.C. Department of Transportation before pushing any legislation on robot-powered vehicles.
But after delays, Allen said he decided to move forward, applying lessons from other cities — such as San Francisco and Austin — that already have robotaxis on their streets.
“I think we need to lay out a pathway. I don’t want D.C. to be first, but I don’t want us to be last,” he said. “It’s not a matter of if autonomous vehicles are going to be on our roadways; it’s really a matter of when.”
Allen said he sought to address a number of concerns about autonomous vehicles, ranging from safety to congestion to the displacement of human workers.
A major component of the bill is a “vehicle miles traveled fee,” which Allen said would disincentivize the robot cars from cruising around D.C. streets without passengers and unnecessarily adding to congestion.
Revenue from the fee — which, along with permitting fees, Allen estimates would bring in millions of dollars — would be split between a new funding stream for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and a fund for displaced drivers. The bill would require a study of the potential scale of displaced workers and come up with ideas about how the fund could aid them.
“That could look like retraining. It could even go as far as direct compensation to workers,” Allen said. “How do you help make sure you are taking care of the workers who are going to be disrupted, most likely, by this new technology coming in?”
The legislation, which could take months to move through the council, would require the vehicles to have backup systems in the event of a power outage. Last year, scores of stalled Waymoscaused major traffic headachesin San Francisco during an outage. It also would mandate training for first responders, who may not know what to do when they encounter the vehicles. In the event of crashes, the bill would hold the automated driving system’s manufacturer responsible as the operator.
Waymo, which estimates it provides half a million rides every week in 11 metro areas, said Friday it was committed to creating local jobs to support the AV fleet at service and charging centers should the D.C. legislation pass.
“Waymo is ready to serve Washingtonians and help make the District’s roads safer for everyone,” Matthew Walsh, regional head of state and local public policy at Waymo, said in a statement. “We look forward to a collaborative process with the Council to ensure the final framework allows the District to take full advantage of the opportunities our service provides.”
The administration of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has been studying the potential for autonomous vehicles since 2018. The city has been allowing testing of the vehicles, like Waymos, for several years as long as there is a human behind the wheel. But transportation and urban policy aficionados, along with the companies themselves, have been impatient with the city’s progress and have wanted to see the robot cars go solo.
This month, the Bowser administration put out a paper finding that while some research is “optimistic about AV’s ability to improve safety and mobility, others caution that unmanaged deployment could worsen congestion, reduce transit use, and exacerbate inequities.” The administration also promised to release a safety study this summer that could inform regulations.
The city’s transportation department said policy recommendations would come in the later report, and that worker displacement, robust safety oversight and data transparency would likely be important components.
Allen said he looks forward to the report but believed his legislation captured those issues. The bill would require data reporting to the city to allow regulators to assess traffic and safety impacts. He said he also envisioned a partnership with Metro in which people could have discounted rides in the vehicles if they used the ride to connect to public transit.
Allen said that the unpredictability and lengthy wait times for ride-sharing services in wards 7 and 8 also led him to propose requiring the AV companies to submit plans to reduce unequal wait times and ensure geographic equity.
A spokesman for the Bowser administration said Thursday afternoon the transportation department hadn’t yet seen the bill text and would have to review it once available.
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