Washington, D.C.'s robotaxi bill is headed for a committee vote by Thanksgiving, Councilmember Charles Allen told Axios on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, even after the city's likely next mayor, Janeese Lewis George, asked colleagues to hold off. The bill would cap each operator at 200 vehicles at first, charge 15 cents per vehicle mile and bar commercial robotaxi service before Jan. 1, 2028.

Allen, who chairs the Council's Committee on Transportation and the Environment, told Axios his bill has the "most robust protections you'll find in AV legislation" and that he believes it has the votes to clear his committee. That would set up a full Council vote in December. "We're still negotiating and going back and forth," he said. "I think we're very close."

What the bill would do

The Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, B26-0684, was introduced on May 1 and had a public hearing on July 13. According to the bill text as reported by EV (eletric-vehicles.com) and CiVL:

  • Testing first: an operator needs at least 180 days in the city's testing program and 250,000 test miles in the District.
  • Fleet cap: up to 200 autonomous vehicles per permit holder until the city approves a comprehensive plan.
  • Start date: commercial on-demand service could begin on Jan. 1, 2028.
  • Fees: a $1 million application fee, a $5 million permit fee and 15 cents per vehicle mile, with half going to public transit and half to education and training for ride-share drivers, EV reports.
  • Service rules: similar wait times across neighborhoods, coordination with first responders, emergency plans such as for power outages, and data sharing with the city on traffic, safety and employment.

Allen has said the per-mile fee would also discourage empty robotaxis from cruising and adding to traffic, according to Axios.

The jobs fight

Lewis George, the Ward 4 Council member who won the Democratic mayoral primary in June and sits on Allen's committee, posted on X on Thursday, Oct. 15: "DC is facing a jobs crisis. Rushing the legalization of autonomous vehicles is irresponsible given the anticipated AI-related job displacement and disruptions that put countless workers at risk." She added: "Let's get this right and not rush Waymo legislation this year." Labor unions that backed her campaign are organizing against the bill, and drivers and union members rallied outside the Wilson Building earlier in October.

Allen told Axios her opposition "didn't come as a surprise." Timing matters: EV notes that any bill not passed by the end of the Council period on Jan. 2, 2027 dies and must be reintroduced, and a passed bill still needs two Council votes at least 14 days apart, the mayor and a 30-day congressional review.

Who is in D.C.

Waymo supports the bill and has tested in Washington for about two years with human safety drivers, because city rules don't allow driverless operation, EV reports. Amazon's Zoox is also testing there. Tesla is not named in the coverage of the bill. Tesla's own Robotaxi service runs in seven U.S. metros, none of them D.C.; see our Robotaxi tracker.

The D.C. fight follows other local pushback. EV cites an Axios count that robotaxi legislation failed in seven U.S. states this year, and says the Minneapolis City Council voted 7 to 6 on Oct. 1 to require a human safety monitor in every robotaxi before Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed it. Waymo, meanwhile, just opened rides to everyone in three cities and is heading to Toronto.