Today, DC Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6), Chair of the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, is announcing legislation to allow the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) offering rideshare services in the District of Columbia.

Autonomous vehicles are a promising technology that could improve street safety on our roadways and the responsible adoption of this technology could reduce traffic injuries and fatalities. There are also potential downsides to AVs: increased traffic congestion and curbside use, displacement of the taxi and rideshare workforce, and, without guardrails, continued inequity across Wards in access for riders looking to use them - all of which can be navigated with the right policies in place.

This Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026 paves the way for the commercial deployment of AVs while addressing many of the concerns that undermine confidence in the technology. Specifically, the bill:

• Requires AV rideshare services provide equal coverage to every neighborhood, including similar wait times, whether you live in Shaw or Congress Heights;
  
  
• Clarifies legal liability for crashes and malfunctions to protect DC residents;
  
  
• Requires operators to collaborate with WMATA on potential discounts when AVs connect directly to public transit;
  
  
• Ensures first responders receive guidance from AV operators on how to safely respond to crashes involving an AV;
  
  
• Ensures operators have redundancy plans in the event of a regional power loss; and
  
  
• Establishes robust data reporting requirements so the District can evaluate impacts on traffic, safety, and rideshare industry employment.

The bill charges AV rideshare companies a “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) fee per vehicle and splits the revenue between new funding for WMATA and workforce development and support for current rideshare workers. The bill also proposes a discount on rides to and from a Metro station.

“This legislation creates a path to deliver autonomous - or driverless - vehicles as a rideshare option in the District of Columbia,” said Councilmember Allen. “People want AVs as an option to get around, and I want DC to be a city that embraces innovation. We didn’t need to be the first city to bring driverless cars to our streets, but I don’t want us to be the last. This bill incorporates important lessons learned from around the country and embraces a broader view of the impacts — both good and bad — that AVs will have on our city.”

The bill comes as DDOT permitting for testing and operations has stalled and kept the deployment of AVs in an early testing phase for several years, with no certainty about their future. The legislative framework instead creates a path to deployment and anticipates how the introduction of AVs could impact the District:

• Traffic Safety: Embracing AVs and incorporating them onto our roads in a measured way will reduce speeding, red light running, and double parking, which has been shown to reduce fatalities and major injuries.
  
  
• Public Safety: This legislation requires continuity of operations planning to ensure AVs can operate safely during a power outage, network failure, or other unanticipated conditions. It also ensures first responders receive guidance for handling crashes involving AVs.
  
  
• Ensuring Equity in Service: An important goal of commercial AV operations is to ensure rides are available to all residents, rather than being concentrated in only some parts of the District. Many residents in Wards 7 and 8 experience long wait times and canceled rides after requesting a rideshare currently. This legislation requires commercial operators, prior to fully deploying their AV fleet, submit a comprehensive plan to fairly rebalance fleet vehicles within the District to reduce unequal wait times or experiences across Wards.
  
  
• Congestion Management: To address concerns that AV deployment will increase congestion due to vehicles travelling our roadways unnecessarily and without passengers, this legislation creates a vehicle miles traveled fee to reduce this practice of “dead-heading.”
  
  
• Connection to Public Transit: AV deployment must not lead to fewer riders using Metro. The bill encourages commercial AV operators to offer discounts to riders if their trip was used as a connection for public transit, ensuring the availability of AVs does not undermine the District’s gains in increasing public transit ridership.
  
  
• Workforce Displacement: Many DC residents work for rideshare companies either as a full-time job or part-time gig, and this technology presents a potential loss of income if many riders shift to driverless rideshare. Directly addressing concerns about the impact on the current rideshare workforce, the bill creates a new Workforce Fund using revenue from commercial operators to assist workers who lose their job or see a drop in income, including requiring a report by the Department of Employment Services and the Department of For-Hire Vehicles to outline the workforce impact and recommendations to help workers facing displacement.

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