A report by the London Assembly Transport committee has stated that driverless taxis could worsen congestion and threaten jobs, reports the BBC.
There are also divided opinions of the robot cars amongst residents, as 42% of 1,053 Londoners, who took part in a YouGov survey, opposed them. However, 29% of people were in support and another 29% would use them.
Caroline Russell, Committee Chair, said: “London’s streets are famously old, idiosyncratic and crowded, and before we open them up to a whole new category of vehicles it’s essential to question the impact on Londoners.”
The report also calls for Transport for London (TfL) to be given greater powers to regulate the newly emerging industry, warning driverless taxis could worsen congestion if they travelled long distances without passengers. It states TfL should monitor and publish data on these “empty miles”.
Safety is also a huge concern, as the report raised worries over vehicles hesitating or making unexpected manoeuvres. To tackle this, it wants operators to show how their services could reduce road danger and report crashes and near misses within 24 hours.
The Department for Transport (DfT) have said safety was its priority and that self-driving vehicles would be introduced carefully, and subject to rigorous testing and regulatory approval.
Throughout the report, questions were raised over how the vehicles would respond to emergencies, assaults and medical incidents.
Driverless taxi company Waymo said passengers would have 24-hour remote assistance, while competitor Wayve proposed an in-car button to contact trained staff.
The London Assembly Transport committee further warned that the passenger services would lead to long-term job losses among taxi and private hire drivers.
It suggests that Tfl assesses the proposed services against the mayors transport strategy and works with London emergency services to build framework for how the vehicles interacts with them.
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