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Waymo, an autonomous vehicle company in Mountain View, has big ambitions to expand its robotaxis out of San Francisco and into the Peninsula. But legislation introduced earlier this year may throw a wrench in these plans, as local cities and counties seek greater control over how self-driving vehicle services are deployed in their jurisdictions.
The legislation, Senate Bill 915, arose following a string of incidents in San Francisco where driverless vehicles have blocked emergency responders, created traffic snarls and in one case, drove over a pedestrian.
In response to these problems, companies like Waymo have touted the safety records of their vehicles, which are involved in fewer collisions than human-driven vehicles, according to a Gitnux market data report. Autonomous vehicle services also are subject to approval from the DMV and, if carrying passengers, oversight from the California Public Utilities Commission. But as of now, there are no local regulations in place.
Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, aims to change that with legislation that would allow cities and counties to pass autonomous vehicle ordinances. “SB 915 returns control to the local communities who know their streets best,” Cortese said in a press release introducing the bill in January.
Since then, several cities and counties have signed on to the legislation, with Santa Clara County being the most recent jurisdiction to voice support. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution in support of SB 915 at its meeting on Tuesday, April 16.
“I think we’re still not ready for autonomous vehicles as we’ve seen in the streets of San Francisco. I would love it if one day we were like the Jetsons,” said Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, referring to the space-age cartoon with flying vehicles. “But we are not there yet. And we need folks who are in local places of authority to ensure that we have guidelines and parameters for that kind of technology to really work for all of our community.”
Under SB 915, local agencies could cap the rates, hours and number of self-driving service vehicles on the roads, as well as introduce fees and disciplinary processes for moving violations or traffic obstructions caused during operation. It also would establish an “interoperability” or override system for first responders, if they needed to take over the vehicle during an emergency situation.
“This legislation is a vital step towards empowering cities and counties to regulate the deployment of AV (autonomous vehicles) within their jurisdictions, tailoring regulations to meet local needs and address the concerns of constituents,” said Robert Sandoval, president of Teamsters Local 350, representing sanitary truck drivers at the board meeting.
But while SB 915 has gained the backing of cities, counties and big labor unions, it also faces strong opposition – most notably from the autonomous vehicle industry and local chambers of commerce that includes Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Mateo.
A central piece of the legislation is that it would prevent autonomous vehicle services from operating in cities until local governments passed ordinances authorizing their deployment.
This is a major barrier to technological innovation, according to Waymo and nearly 70 other companies and business associations that sent a letter to the state capitol opposing SB 915. A patchwork of ordinances, implemented city-by-city, would delay the rollout of autonomous vehicle services, and would maintain the status quo of unacceptably high traffic fatalities on California’s roadways, the letter said.
The letter also argued SB 915 would disproportionately impact residents with mobility challenges, and that while autonomous vehicles can expand access to resources and jobs, this is dependent on cross-jurisdiction operations that would allow companies to scale up their services easily and efficiently.
Peter Katz, president and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, raised these issues as well, noting that the more barriers that are put in place, the less likely it would be for autonomous vehicle companies to pencil out and actually operate in the Peninsula, despite the need for them.
“The reason for autonomous vehicles is to increase the number of transit opportunities, increase the number of deliveries that can be made, whether you’re elderly or whether you have other kinds of issues, increase your options in terms of being able to go,” Katz said.
Meanwhile, regulatory frameworks have already been established by state agencies, the letter said, adding that “SB 915 is akin to requiring Californians to obtain a separate driver’s license for every one of California’s 520 cities after already receiving a license from the DMV.”
While in support of SB 915, Supervisor Joe Simitian drew attention to some of these logistical challenges too. The Bay Area covers nine counties and 101 jurisdictions, he said.
“It does raise a legitimate question, which is how do you synthesize things if there are 101 different sets of local ordinances? And I would ask that the author and the legislature try to address that challenge as they go forward,” Simitian said.
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