Minneapolis is pushing back against fully autonomous Waymo vehicles by proposing an ordinance that would require licensed drivers to sit behind the wheel as safety monitors, marking the first U.S. city to take such a regulatory stance. The proposal reflects growing concerns about worker displacement and safety, even as Waymo expands to 15 cities with roughly 4,000 driverless vehicles.

Why Are Cities Starting to Regulate Waymo's Robotaxis?

Four Minneapolis city councilors, representing nearly one-third of the city council, introduced an ordinance that would prevent self-driving cars from operating without a human driver present. The proposed "safety monitor" would have immediate access to steering, braking, and acceleration controls and would be paid at least minimum wage. The City Council will hold a public hearing on September 22, with the ordinance set to take effect next October if passed.

The Minneapolis proposal stands alone among U.S. cities. Despite lawmakers across 25 states introducing more than 65 bills to regulate self-driving technology, no other city has proposed or passed a similar measure requiring human drivers in autonomous vehicles. The move reflects a broader tension between technology companies eager to deploy fully driverless fleets and communities worried about the social and safety implications.

Council members cited several concerns driving the ordinance, including potential safety risks, traffic disruptions, and the displacement of thousands of gig workers. They pointed to a 2025 incident in San Francisco where Waymo vehicles blocked streets during a power outage when traffic lights failed, forcing the company to temporarily suspend service and raising questions about the vehicles' ability to handle real-world disruptions.

What Do Labor Unions Say About Robotaxi Expansion?

The Minneapolis ordinance reflects a national conversation about autonomous vehicles' impact on the gig economy. Unions representing rideshare drivers have argued that growing robotaxi market share is displacing workers by reducing trip demand, while these vehicles cannot reliably navigate severe weather, road hazards, and disrupted traffic patterns. In February 2026, New York Governor Kathy Hochul withdrew a proposal to expand autonomous vehicles beyond New York City after union pressure.

Research suggests the threat to drivers is real. A study analyzing 200,000 daily observations of taxi drivers in Wuhan, China found that the introduction of robotaxis slashed taxi drivers' average daily income by nearly 11 percent, primarily due to reduced demand. A George Washington University-led study using cost models projected that a shift from taxis to robotaxis would decrease frontline jobs by 57 to 76 percent, though the study also noted that total jobs would not decrease as the autonomous vehicle industry would create additional manufacturing roles.

"Tens of thousands of New Yorkers proudly call driving their career, whether behind the wheel of a truck, bus, delivery van, taxi, Uber or other form of transit. These are real people earning real livings, supporting families, contributing to our economy and sharing a common goal: making our roads safer. Yet their careers are being treated as collateral damage in a race toward automation. Why? Because it's cheaper," stated Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO representing 2.5 million workers.

Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO

How to Understand Waymo's Response to Regulatory Pressure

• Safety Data Claims: Waymo points to what it describes as a 16-fold reduction in serious-injury crashes compared with human drivers across cities where it currently operates, broadly consistent with roughly 90 percent reduction in serious-injury crashes cited when the company closed a $16 billion funding round in February at a $126 billion valuation.
• Job Creation Arguments: Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana has maintained that robotaxis would not displace workers, arguing instead that self-driving cars would expand manufacturing and create new roles in fleet operations, maintenance, and charging infrastructure.
• Community Partnership Strategy: Waymo has offered scholarships to students in technical programs at community colleges to strengthen the pipeline of trade workers for expected new roles in the autonomous vehicle industry.

Adam Lane, Waymo's state and local public policy manager, called the Minneapolis framework a "de facto ban on autonomous vehicles," adding that the company is partnering with several local organizations to address the city's safety and mobility gaps. A study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published in July found Waymo's vehicles have a lower crash involvement rate than human-operated cars.

"We remain committed to working with officials on a path forward that offers Minnesotans the option to choose fully autonomous transportation," stated Adam Lane, Waymo's state and local public policy manager.

Adam Lane, State and Local Public Policy Manager at Waymo

What Does This Mean for Waymo's European Expansion?

While Minneapolis debates whether to require human drivers, Waymo is simultaneously building infrastructure for fully driverless operations in Europe. German insurer Allianz Partners agreed to a multi-year deal to provide Waymo with fleet insurance, liability cover, and digital claims handling as the company prepares its first driverless rides on the European mainland, starting in Munich at the end of 2027.

The Allianz deal signals that at least one major global insurer believes the commercial case for underwriting robotaxi fleets is strong enough to justify building dedicated infrastructure rather than treating pilot vehicles as extensions of existing commercial motor insurance. However, this contrasts sharply with other European insurers' skepticism. Klaus-Jürgen Heitmann, chief executive of Germany's largest motor insurer HUK-Coburg, told an industry audience in Hamburg that nationwide autonomous driving was probably still the better part of a decade away, even if it eventually arrives.

In the United Kingdom, where Waymo confirmed London as its first European market last year, the regulatory picture remains uncertain. Vehicles have been mapping and running manual test drives across roughly 100 square miles of London since late 2025 in partnership with fleet operator Moove, with supervised autonomous validation beginning earlier this year. However, Transport for London said as recently as spring 2026 that no autonomous vehicle currently met its standards for unsupervised operation, and the licensing pathway remained unresolved heading into autumn.

Britain's Automated Vehicles Act 2024 creates two new legal categories of responsibility: an "authorised self-driving entity," typically the vehicle manufacturer or technology provider, and a "no-user-in-charge" operator, which could be a mobility company such as Waymo or Uber. The framework's fine detail, including data-sharing rules and the licensing of self-driving entities, is not expected to be fully in force until 2027, leaving insurers to work out how incidents during the current trial period will actually be pursued and settled.

The Minneapolis ordinance and European regulatory developments reveal that Waymo's path to widespread robotaxi deployment is far from certain. While the company has demonstrated strong safety records in U.S. markets and secured major insurance partnerships abroad, it faces mounting pressure from cities concerned about worker displacement and from regulators demanding clarity on liability and safety standards before fully autonomous operations can begin.