The Committee on Transportation and the Environment, chaired by Councilmember Charles Allen, held a public roundtable on July 13, 2026, from 9:44 AM to 8:09 PM to discuss Bill 26-684, the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026. The bill establishes a framework for commercial autonomous vehicle (AV) deployment in the District of Columbia, including permitting, safety requirements, a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, and workforce transition provisions. Over 80 witnesses testified across multiple panels, representing industry, disability advocates, labor unions, business groups, legal experts, and government agencies. Key issues included safety, equity, accessibility, workforce impacts, data transparency, and the appropriate regulatory structure.
Recording in progress. Alright, good morning, everyone. I'm Charles Allen. I'm the Ward 6 Council member and chair of the Council's Committee on Transportation and the Environment. Today is Monday, July 13th, 2026, and we're meeting both in room 500 of historic John A. Wilson Building, as well as over the Zoom virtual platform. The time is now 944 a.m., and I'm calling to order this public round table of committee. Today's hearing is going to focus on Bill 26-684, the autonomous vehicle deployment authorization amendment act of 2026. I, along with counselors Pinto and Freuman introduced Bill 26-684 on May 1st, 2026. The bill is referred to the committee on May 5th, 2026. The advancement of autonomous vehicles is a watershed moment in the world of transportation. A V companies are offering rides in about 11 American cities, and you can bet that they all want to boast that they offer rides in the nation's capital. Given the advancements we've seen, I don't think it's a question of if AVs are coming, it's when and under what conditions and how they would work for our local roadways and our local economy. Despite what I see as the inevitability of this technology, I also don't want to rush the process by which these vehicles begin operating in the district just for the sake of it. At the same time, if my tenure as chair of the committee has shown me anything, it's that many, way too many human drivers cannot safely operate a motor vehicle. If there is a new transportation option that can save lives and prevent injuries, then we owe it to our residents to explore that option fully and with an open mind. Today, I believe we'll hear proponents of the technology argue that AVs improve traffic safety and consumer choice in the district. If structured the right way, AVs can also provide more equitable access to rideshare services as they can better accommodate some people with disabilities. In our previous hearing on autonomous vehicles, we heard directly from people who are blind or have low vision about the independence and transportation access the autonomous vehicles have provided. But the disability community is not a monolith. In more recent conversations, I've heard from a lot of people who use wheelchairs or experience other mobility challenges about potential shortcomings of autonomous vehicles and the need for regulations to ensure better service for that population. There are other legitimate concerns about autonomous vehicle deployment. The deployment of AVs on district roadways could exacerbate traffic congestion or increase demand for limited curbside space. It could draw riders away from public transit. Commercial AV operations will also compete with existing taxi, ride share, and delivery workers potentially displacing those jobs. Crashes or traffic violations involving AVs present novel questions regarding who's responsible for any resulting civil or legal liability, as well as potential privacy issues with reports of companies alerting authorities and observing rider behavior. And some people are just simply skeptical that AVs improve traffic safety based on recent incidents, including a recent fatality in Texas involving a Tesla. Other notable incidents include a power outage in San Francisco or reports of AVs driving into flood waters in Texas. But to be sure, I could make a list of crashes, injuries, and dumb or dangerous human driver decisions as well. Currently, the district only allows AV companies to engage in testing with a test operator physically present in the vehicle. That is, the vehicle is operating autonomously, but the human can take over the steering wheel at any moment. The District Department of Transportation has been tasked with developing a driverless testing permit for years now, but that progress is stalled. Bill 26-684, the autonomous vehicle deployment authorization amendment act of 2026 would pave the way for deployment of commercial AVs through an iterative process. Let me specifically walk through some of these provisions. First, it establishes a commercial autonomous vehicle program within DDOT that will issue commercial AV permits. Applicants must have a record of safe testing and must submit a first responder interaction plan that ensures law enforcement and emergency personnel can safely interact with AVs on the road, as well as a continuity of operations plan that explains how AVs will maintain operations or otherwise respond to challenges like power outages or network failures. It also creates a phase timeline for the deployment of commercial AVs. The bill sets deadlines by which DDOP must begin offering a driverless testing permit and a commercial AV permit. Until January 1, 2028, commercial AV operators' fleet size will be limited to 200 vehicles. After January 1, 2028, commercial AV operators can submit an on-demand vehicle network comprehensive plan that, if approved, will allow the operator to increase their fleet size. The comprehensive plan explains how the operator will lawfully park and store their vehicles, minimize passengerless vehicle trips and the associated traffic congestion, ensure riders from all eight wards have equitable access to AVs and develop a user interface that allows people with disabilities to request a ride. The bill also establishes clear rules for when an autonomous driving system can be engaged. The bill broadly allows for the use of level one and level two autonomous driving systems, which are driver assistance systems that still require the human driver to remain in control. The bill generally restricts the use of level three, four, and five systems except when an operator has received a permit for either commercial operations or testing. To ensure the district is aware of vehicles with semi or fully autonomous driving systems, manufacturers of levels three, four, and five systems must also register their products with DDOT. The bill also establishes a vehicle miles traveled tax. The bill establishes a vehicle miles traveled or VMT tax for commercial AV operators of 15 cents per mile. The VMT encourages AV operators to minimize passengerless operations and cirtuitous routing. I'm hoping today's conversation will include some discussions of how we can strengthen the VMT, whether it should replace some of the existing surcharges, and whether it should be extended for other four hire vehicles. The bill also improves public transit by investing a portion of the revenue collected from AV operations into public transit infrastructure and service investments.