Union members, rideshare drivers and local residents gathered outside the John Wilson Building in Washington, D.C., to protest a council proposal that would let autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo begin offering commercial rides in the city.
The demonstration came as D.C. council members discussed the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, legislation introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen in May that would set up a program for commercial robotaxis overseen by the District Department of Transportation.
Protesters argued that allowing driverless vehicles onto city streets would take income away from drivers who depend on rideshare work to support their families.
“We came out here today strongly because we feel that these robotaxis will put people out of work,” one protester told Fox News Digital. “And people need jobs.”
Frederick, a protester from Virginia, said the technology threatens more than just paychecks.
“I’m against robotaxis because it takes away from the community, it takes away from their jobs, it takes away food from their table,” he said. “People need jobs to be able to support their family.”
Sabrina, a D.C. resident, was blunter in her assessment of the plan.
“It’s bulls – – -,” she said. “Let’s not bring robots taking my neighbor’s jobs. My folks that drive for a living, let’s just not take their jobs.”
Not everyone at the protest rejected the idea that automation is coming. Michael, from Washington, D.C., said the city should respond by cutting the workweek without reducing pay and creating new jobs elsewhere rather than fighting the technology outright.
“We should take the offensive on job issues,” Michael said. “We should shorten the workweek, without a loss in pay. So we’ll create more jobs in public transportation, in hospitals, in service industries. So we actually maybe will lose some jobs to taxi drivers, but we’ll create better paying jobs.”
What the bill would do
The legislation would initially cap autonomous vehicle operators at 200 vehicles in the city. Companies would need to show at least 180 days and 250,000 miles of testing in the District before receiving commercial permits, and would have to submit plans to address disparities in service and wait times across D.C.’s eight wards. Under the proposed timeline, robotaxis could begin operating in the city by 2028.
A public hearing on the bill was held in July, but no vote has been scheduled. The full council would need to approve the measure before any autonomous vehicles could begin picking up riders.
Samuel Epps, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, said workers need a voice in the process.
“A worker should be at the table,” Epps said. “We shouldn’t rush this.”
Safety and cost questions
Waymo has cited safety data covering more than 270 million miles of autonomous driving, saying its vehicles were involved in 82% fewer injury-causing crashes and 95% fewer crashes involving serious injuries or worse compared with human-driver benchmarks in the same operating areas.
Supporters of robotaxis have also pointed to the potential for lower fares without a human driver, though current price comparisons show Waymo’s rates vary and are not consistently cheaper than Uber or Lyft.
Several protesters were skeptical that any initial savings would last. Sabrina predicted fares would rise sharply once the service became established.
“It might be cheap for the trial periods, and then all of a sudden we’ll be paying $50. So no, I don’t believe that. That’s just some crap just to get people engaged with the Waymo,” she said.
Helen, from Maryland, said she hasn’t noticed much of a price difference in cities where the service already operates.
“They seem the same price to me,” she said. “They’re in other cities and it seems like not much of a difference in the pricing.”
Eddie, another attendee, raised concerns about safety for passengers rather than cost.
“I don’t think it’s good for the city,” he said. “If my children gonna get in a car, I would prefer for a human to be driving.”
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