ROBOTAXIS...ROBOTAXIS ADCU CALLS FOR HALT ON LONDON
ROBOTAXI TRIALS OVER SAFETY AND JOB FEARS
The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) has issued urgent demands to both the London Assembly and PM Andy Burnham to immediately pause upcoming AV pilots in the capital. The union warns that rolling out commercial robotaxi trials - including planned September tests involving Silicon Valley giants Waymo, Uber, and Wayve - risks treating Londoners as “guinea pigs for unproven technology.” The union argues that the city must conduct full safety, economic, and equality assessments before any further expansion is permitted. A central concern for the union is the catastrophic economic blow the technology could deal to the city’s more than 105,000 licensed PH drivers. With many workers
aged over 40, displacement could cause severe hardship, especially as any new jobs created by these systems are more likely to support overseas data centres than secure British employment. The ADCU argues that innovation should serve the public good rather than the financial interests of tech giants, demanding a legally enforceable “just transition” plan to protect the existing drivers. Beyond economic fallout, the ADCU points to significant risks regarding public safety,
rising
traffic congestion, diminished accessibility for vulnerable pass- engers, and a worrying lack of democratic accountability for near misses or accidents. Describing the potential impact as “potentially the biggest threat to
drivers’ livelihoods in living memory,” ADCU General Secretary Cristina-Georgiana Ioanitescu stressed that the union is not anti- technology, but argued that “innovation must not come at the cost of workers, passengers or the public interest.” Ioanitescu stated that workers “deserve better than to have their livelihoods sacrificed in the interests of Silicon Valley technology companies.” She added that driverless cars must be independently proven to be “demonstrably safer than a professional human driver” before taking to the streets. Navigating London’s
complex
roads presents distinct challenges the union insists autonomous tech has yet to master.
BAIDU AND LYFT LAUNCH LONDON ROBOTAXI TESTS AHEAD OF PLANNED 2027 ROLLOUT
Chinese technology giant Baidu has officially begun testing autonomous vehicles on the streets of London, marking the latest escalation in the race to deploy self-driving taxis across the UK capital. The trials, which launched on Tuesday, 28 July, with human safety operators behind the wheel, are being conducted in partnership with ride-hailing giant Lyft and Freenow, the German taxi and multi-mobility app that Lyft acquired in 2025. The testing stems from a strategic partnership formed last year to integrate Baidu’s custom-built Apollo Go RT6 robotaxis onto Lyft’s
10
platform across key European markets. For now, a fleet of dozens of test vehicles is operating within the London borough of Brent as the companies work alongside local authorities, including TfL and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), to satisfy regulatory requirements. London has rapidly turned into a battleground for autonomous vehicle technology. Google’s sister company Waymo began testing its own self-driving cars with safety drivers in the city in April, while Uber and its partner Wayve plan to launch a London robotaxi service later this year. Pending official
approval, Baidu and Freenow by Lyft expect to allow the general public to hail robotaxi rides starting in 2027. When the service goes live, Freenow by Lyft intends to run a hybrid network where self-driving vehicles work alongside existing human drivers operating traditional taxis and PHVs. Highlighting the effort to reassure transport workers, Thomas Zimmer- mann, CEO of Freenow by Lyft, said: “As a platform with deep roots in the taxi industry, our priority is ensuring that autonomous tech- nology supports the professional drivers who keep London moving.”
AUGUST 2026 PHTM
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