Sadiq Khan calls for cap on numbers of robotaxis on London streets

London’s mayor has called for a cap on the numbers of robotaxis on its streets, with the UK government poised to allow fully driverless vehicles to operate in the capital.

Sadiq Khan said politicians had failed to “grasp the pace of change” from the technology, which could threaten jobs and increase congestion in the city, and questioned whether the rules for autonomous cars were fit for purpose.

His comments came after Chinese robotaxis, now being tested in London, were unveiled by Freenow by Lyft, a rival to Uber.

In September Uber started offering limited passenger services in Wayve’s self-driving cars, albeit with a safety driver in the front seat, under licence from Transport for London (TfL).

Freenow by Lyft is hoping to launch fully driverless Baidu robotaxis as early as next year, under a national licensing scheme.

However, the companies, as well as Waymo – which operates robotaxis in San Francisco and other US cities – are primarily focusing on London and Khan said the city needed to be able to limit the rollout.

“What we don’t want is a situation where there’s a big bang without proper regulation in place. We’ve got to make sure the regulation is fit for purpose before we have a mass rollout of things like automated vehicles,” said Khan.

He added: “I think the pace of change when it comes to tech and innovation has not been fully grasped by politicians. There’s got to be incremental movement when it comes to things like robotaxis or automated vehicles.

“We’re lobbying the government for TfL, for London, to have more powers than it currently has on things like automated vehicles.

“There are big questions that haven’t been answered yet: what impact will this have on air quality, on congestion, on those people whose livelihood is being a private hire vehicle driver or a black-taxi driver.”

Drivers’ unions have held protests at the London HQs of Wayve and Waymo in recent weeks, with many Uber drivers fearing for their future.

Khan added: “Is there going to be a cap? At the moment there’s no cap on the number of private hire vehicles or taxis. We’ve lobbied for those powers as well.

“London isn’t San Francisco. We’re a city of almost 10 million, 400 villages, narrow roads, and it’s really important to get this right.”

Under current regulations for fully autonomous vehicles, TfL can only give or refuse consent for their use within London and not manage or license robotaxi services, making the capital’s authorities somewhat less enthusiastic than ministers to accelerate towards the new technology.

However, Freenow by Lyft said the UK’s national framework for driverless cars was an important factor.

Danny O’Gorman, UK and Ireland general manager, said it was “great news for us to really invest in the market. But in terms of how it’s going to be regulated, once the service is up and running, that’s something that still needs to be ironed out.”

O’Gorman said the company was working closely with TfL and “wanted to do things the right way”. About 24 autonomous Baidu Apollo Go vehicles are being tested in the London borough of Brent.

The spacious Chinese cars, which incorporate a massage seat and a built-in touchscreen in the back for passengers, are in fully autonomous service in cities in China and the UAE, and appeared to be handling the streets safely in a test drive in October for the Guardian.

But many test trips still require human intervention, with roadworks proving difficult. For autonomous vehicles (AVs), “an interesting challenge in London is following the rules of the road”, when many drivers ignore them, O’Gorman said: “You get beeped at a lot for following the speed limit.”

Freenow by Lyft is promising a purpose-built AV depot in the UK. O’Gorman said a large proportion of displaced taxi drivers could be employed there in remote operating and servicing jobs.

The company has traditionally worked with black cabs and, he said: “The larger risks to that industry are the driver age profile: two-thirds are over 50 and they’re retiring, and the vehicle’s too expensive.

“AV is not going to be really competing in that space and it’s going to take a long time for us to scale up to vehicle numbers that threaten anything to do with that.”