On Monday, San Francisco taxi drivers protested against the expansion of autonomous vehicles outside of the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC.
The protest aligned with a meeting held by the Commission on Monday to discuss autonomous vehicle interference with first responders. On Thursday, they are scheduled to vote on whether to lift current restrictions on where and when autonomous vehicles – from companies Cruise and Waymo – can operate.
Mark Gruberg is a board member for the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance. He told KALW that taxi workers want the CPUC to avoid a premature decision and wait for more data before lifting restrictions. Taxi workers worry about the effects on their own safety and that of the public when AVs get confused and block traffic or behave erratically.
"And we’re also concerned in the longer term about the effects they’re going to have on jobs," Gruberg said, "Because this is just one of many technologies that are going to pose a threat to the workforce."
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has also urged the state to collect more data before making a decision. Emergency responders have also expressed concerns following incidents of self-driving cars blocking roads during emergencies.
So far this year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has received 630 Autonomous Vehicle Collision Reports, according to its website.
