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Philadelphia officials say they are alarmed about driverless cars operating on city streets without the city having much power to regulate them.
About 100 people rallied outside City Hall on Tuesday ahead of a City Council hearing, urging lawmakers to push back against autonomous vehicles and protect jobs for taxi and ride-hailing drivers. They say Waymo, a self-driving taxi company operated by Google’s parent company Alphabet, could kill thousands of jobs in the city.
Councilmember Jim Harrity, who chaired the hearing, acknowledged the city can’t stop the vehicles from operating.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority regulates taxis, limousines and ride-hailing services locally, but Pennsylvania oversees autonomous vehicle policy, leaving the city with limited authority.
Harrity said officials are worried about public safety and the potential loss of driving jobs.
“The fact of the matter is these things are driving on our streets, and we’re worried about safety. We’re worried about jobs,” Harrity said.
Harrity said there are tens of thousands of human drivers in the city.
Councilmember Nina Ahmad argued that replacing human drivers with autonomous vehicles could redirect transportation revenue away from local workers and toward large technology companies headquartered outside Philadelphia.
“It’s not only just the jobs. It’s the safety and indirect impact of what will happen if we transfer our modes of transportation to these robotic cars,” Ahmad said.
She also questioned whether the city should embrace autonomous transportation simply because the technology exists.
“Just because we can doesn’t mean we do it,” she said.