Portland proposes caps and fees before robotaxis like Waymo can operate
City planners want vehicle limits, long mileage tests, and a driver-support fee in place before robotaxis can pick up paying riders in Portland.
What happened: Portland's City Council public works committee met this week to review draft rules from the Portland Bureau of Transportation covering robotaxis like Waymo before any company can launch paid service in the city. The proposal caps each company at 75 vehicles and the whole city at 225 driverless taxis in year one. Before charging for rides, a company must log 50,000 miles on Portland streets under a city testing permit, split evenly between miles with a human driver aboard and miles without one. Tuesday's session was a discussion, not a vote; PBOT plans to bring a formal ordinance to the committee later this month.
Why it matters: Driver's Union Oregon says many rideshare drivers are immigrants, retirees, and people with disabilities who depend on this income, and wants robotaxis kept out of Portland entirely. The union argues human drivers do more than drive, helping with groceries, luggage, and mobility devices, and noticing when a rider is unwell, tasks a driverless car can't replicate. The debate also touches public safety, since the union points to robotaxis misbehaving elsewhere around construction zones and first responders, and congestion, since more vehicles could squeeze existing drivers' earnings.
How it works, plainly: Beyond the vehicle caps and mileage testing, PBOT's draft requires companies to submit safety and first-responder plans, share crash and trip data with the city, run only all-electric, Oregon-registered vehicles, and stick to city-approved service areas. Companies would be barred from selling data collected through the vehicles, and the city could suspend a company's permit after repeated traffic violations. A proposed per-trip fee on robotaxi rides would help fund support for rideshare and taxi workers affected by the shift to automation.
The rollout: Councilors are split. Mitch Green says he's open to banning robotaxis outright, while committee chair Olivia Clark opposes a ban and also opposes requiring a licensed human driver inside every vehicle. Clark says she wants Portland's own rules in place before state lawmakers potentially preempt local control over robotaxis altogether. PBOT expects to bring a formal ordinance before the committee later this month, which will be the next real test of where the council lands.