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Waymo wants to expand into Boston. Massachusetts law isn’t ready.
The company has already run test vehicles on city streets, but a rollout hinges on whether the state authorizes autonomous-vehicle operations.
WAYMO:
Waymo says it’s ready to bring its driverless cars to Boston. First, it has to persuade state lawmakers to legalize autonomous vehicles.
“Our goal is to create a clear and consistent framework to ensure that any new technology on our roads meets established safety standards,” said state Rep. Dan Cahill, chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, as quoted in a statement on the company’s Boston plans released by Waymo on Thursday.
Cahill continued, “I look forward to continuing discussions with various stakeholders and local communities as we update our transportation laws in a thoughtful and practical way.”
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Cahill has already filed legislation on Beacon Hill that would create a regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles in the state. The next hearing is on March 18.
The announcement comes after Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., tested its vehicles last year on Boston’s streets.
The California-based company Waymo already operates in four major U.S. cities: Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami. Waymo is also available to the public through the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta.
David Kingsbury, president of the Bay State Council of the Blind, is in favor of Waymo’s expansion.
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“For those of us who are blind or low-vision, transportation is consistently one of the biggest barriers to being part of the greater Boston community,” Kingsubry said in the same Waymo announcement. “The arrival of Waymo promises safer, more accessible transportation that will not discriminate.”
However, some city leaders have questioned whether Waymo’s technology is ready for Boston’s notoriously difficult streets.
In July, the Boston City Council held a hearing on the possibility of autonomous vehicles operating in the city. At that hearing, Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge said Waymo has yet to show that its autonomous vehicles can navigate a city as complex as Boston.
“If every Waymo drives like a confused out-of-state tourist, we will very quickly find them unwelcome on the streets of Boston,” he said.
Concerns also surfaced during a separate council hearing in late October, which focused on a proposed ordinance to allow autonomous vehicles in the city. There, proponents of the ordinance warned that autonomous vehicles could harm rideshare and taxi drivers.
Michael Scarpa, a Teamsters member and DHL driver with 36 years of experience, told Boston.com at the time, “It’s only coming after cab drivers and Uber drivers now, but when does it stop? And how does the economy move forward when only corporations are making money on autonomous cars?” he said. “It’s an attack, an attack on our way of life.”
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