It’s been a long wait for advocates of self-driving cars in D.C. — and if Ward 4 council member Janeese Lewis George has her way, it will be a little longer still.
The city’s likely next mayor said Thursday that the D.C. Council should hold off on advancing a bill that would legalize passenger service in self-driving cars operated by Waymo and other companies, largely because of concerns that labor unions have raised about possible job losses amongst Uber, Lyft and taxicab drivers.
“D.C. is facing a jobs crisis,” she wrote on social media Thursday afternoon. “Rushing the legalization of autonomous vehicles is irresponsible given the anticipated AI-related job displacement and disruptions that put countless workers at risk.”
“D.C must be a leader in welcoming new technology while supporting workers and prioritizing safety,” she added. “Let’s get this right and not rush Waymo legislation this year.”
Trending
Sign up for The Washington Sun Metro newsletter for essential coverage of the D.C. region.
Labor unions who strongly supported Lewis George’s mayoral candidacy ahead of the competitive Democratic primary in June have spoken out loudly against the arrival of self-driving cars in D.C., citing recent data that show trips per hour and gross hourly pay for rideshare drivers falls in cities where AVs operate.
To date, Lewis George had not weighed in strongly on whether the council should delay consideration of a bill that’s slowly been working its way through the legislative process. But even with her now having staked out a clear position, Ward 6 council member Charles Allen — the author of the bill, as well as a close ally of hers — said his plans are not changing.
“We have been meeting with workers and labor to transit groups, disability rights leaders and autonomous vehicle companies themselves. We are still working on a draft, but my plan is to continue to move it forward,” he told The Washington Sun.
“I think that Janeese and I are together the overwhelming majority of the time,” he said. “This is going to be one instance where we see an issue differently. It doesn’t change my confidence in her leadership and vision.”
Lewis George is a member of the transportation committee that Allen chairs and through which the Waymo bill will have to pass.
Waymo and other self-driving car services are legal and available in a number of cities, including Miami, Austin and San Francisco. But the Google-owned company — which has been testing in D.C. for two years — has faced stiffer headwinds in the District, in part because Mayor Muriel Bowser hasn’t seemed enthusiastic and slow-walked a report that the council said it needed before drafting its own legislation.
Waymo has recently made a stronger pitch to city officials, building out three locations across D.C. where company officials said its fleet would be charged and serviced — and employ local workers.
Still, labor unions and other groups have increased their lobbying against self-driving cars, hosting a protest outside the Wilson Building earlier this month where they asked lawmakers to hold off on moving the Waymo bill forward.
“Rushing to allow Waymo to bring driverless cars into our communities and causing thousands of people in this region to lose their livelihoods is the last thing we need,” Jaime Contreras, executive vice president of the local union chapter representing rideshare drivers, told The Sun in a statement. “Delaying this legislation until we know the real impact on jobs is responsible leadership.”
A spokesperson for Waymo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Despite rideshare and cab drivers’ anxieties around self-driving cars, the director of D.C.’s department for hired vehicles, Jonathan Rogers, previously told The Sun that he’s not overly concerned about mass job displacement.
“There’s always been disruption and new competition,” Rogers said. “There are things that humans are able to do as a driver, as an assistant in a vehicle, that AVs are not likely to do any time in the near future.”
Allen tells The Sun that his proposed bill seeks to balance the desire to bring self-driving cars to D.C. with the concerns raised by workers, in part by charging the companies a fee for every mile driven in the city and targeting some of the proceeds for programs to help any of the thousands of traditional ride-hailing drivers who may be put out of work.
“Part of what we have built in is the strongest worker protections in any bill you have seen around the country,” he said.
But even if the council does ultimately approve Allen’s bill — which remains to be seen — Lewis George could stall its implementation if she becomes mayor. And if the council does punt until next year, the arrival of new progressive-minded council members could further complicate the bill’s passage.
Authors
