ROBOTAXIS...ROBOTAXIS
ADDISON LEE CHIEF WARNS ROBOTAXIS COULD PRICE OUT HUMAN DRIVERS
The head of Addison Lee is calling for a “minimum price” on robotaxis to stop tech giants such as Waymo and Tesla from destroying the traditional taxi industry through “predatory pricing.” Liam Griffin, chief executive of the private hire firm, warned that massive technology companies might use their wealth to offer fares so low that human drivers cannot compete. Griffin emphasised that the transition to autonomous vehicles must not ignore the people currently behind the wheel. “We can’t just have this new shiny technology roll out and all of a sudden forget about the drivers that we’ve all relied on for
such a long time,” he said. As London prepares for the arrival of driverless fleets from companies like Alphabet’s Waymo and China’s Baidu, Griffin argued that the regulator must protect the industry by limiting permits and monitoring costs. With analysts predicting robotaxis could eventually be 20% cheaper than human-led services, the fear is that established taxi driver livelihoods are at risk. Griffin noted that “there are livelihoods on the line here” and insisted that if the regulator “has to set a minimum price for it, then I feel it should.” He expressed concern that with- out intervention, deep-pocketed
players could ride “roughshod over the existing industry” and make it impossible for current operators to survive.
While Addison Lee is preparing for the future by testing self-driving technology in Asia and planning to add various robotaxi brands to its own fleet, Griffin remains wary of the competition. He stressed that regulators need to ensure a “handful of players don’t come in... and make it unachievable for the existing operators.”
Although the US and China are currently ahead in the driverless race, Griffin believes London must act now to balance new tech with the survival of the traditional cabbie.
THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR 1.5 MILLION U.S. DRIVERS IN THE AGE OF ROBOTAXIS
While the promised revolution of self-driving cars didn’t come in 2018 as predictions suggested, the steady march of technology is finally forcing a reckoning for those who earn their keep behind the wheel. A new report by Law Bear reveals that the stakes are incredibly high, with over 1.5 million U.S. citizens depending on driving for income, including “200 thousand taxi drivers and 1.3 million rideshare workers.” As companies like Waymo pour billions into the sector, economists warn that “automation- induced unemployment tends to disproportionately affect service sectors,” potentially creating a “cascading effect” on local taxes and real estate in major cities. Safety and legal liability remain the
PHTM APRIL 2026
primary roadblocks to widespread adoption. Although Waymo’s fleet has logged over 200 million miles, “the number of car accidents keeps climbing, too.” Texas leads the nation with 861 recorded robotaxi crashes, followed by Arizona with 263. Beyond standard collisions, AVs have sparked “national outrage” by blocking emergency vehicles and causing logistical nightmares. These incidents raise a thorny legal question that may take a decade of lawsuits to answer: “Who is responsible when a Robotaxi crashes? The manu- facturer, the operator, or the software developer?” The transition also brings a silent threat to
Dozens of police warrants have passenger privacy.
already been filed for vehicle footage, often without passengers knowing they are being recorded. “Privacy analysts warn that AV data collection could erode trust faster than technical glitches,” leaving users to wonder who owns their travel data and if it can be “subpoenaed in civil disputes.” As states such as California and Arizona lead the way in regulation while others lag behind, the industry still faces massive “scaling, regulatory, and economic hurdles.” For the millions of Americans currently driving for a living, the future depends on whether they can successfully lobby for “retraining programmes or wage protections” before the human driver becomes a thing of the past.
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