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Twelve years ago, taxi drivers were protesting against ride-hailing apps like Uber. Now Uber drivers are protesting robotaxis like the ones pushed by Waymo, the self-driving autonomous vehicle company owned by Google parent Alphabet.
John Moavenzadeh, the executive director of the MIT Mobility Initiative, recently noted the irony. His comments came during a presentation at an industry-friendly summit last week at the UMass Club, which was partly sponsored by the Mass. Competitive Partnership, a nonprofit backed by CEOs of some of the Bay State’s largest companies.
The arrival of autonomous vehicles – now being test-driven in Boston with humans behind the wheel – is already in progress. The big question is how they will be regulated, and it looks like Beacon Hill is in the driver’s seat. There is no coherent federal policy, and a patchwork system of 25 states have created their own. (Massachusetts is not among them, though Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order in 2016 allowing AV testing.)
Lawmakers will be steering between a deep-pocketed industry that says it wants regulations and powerful unions like the Teamsters that are warning of job losses and a risk to public safety. The Legislature’s transportation committee is weighing several bills to legalize AVs. Representatives from Waymo made the rounds in January, weeks before the company re-deployed cars with human drivers on Boston’s snowy streets, as MASSterList first reported.
An “endless series of promises,” overly optimistic ones from people like Elon Musk who pledged robotaxis “by next Tuesday,” has created confusion in the market and in the industry, according to Moavenzadeh. States and cities also feel burned by the rollout of Uber and Lyft, which built market share by asking regulators for forgiveness instead of permission. The companies also offered a more frictionless ride than the cranky cab drivers whose credit card machines only worked when riders insisted they didn’t have cash.
Moavenzadeh acknowledged that there will be job losses, though new jobs, in AV fleet management operations, will be created. (How many of those will be in the U.S. is another question. U.S. Ed Markey last week said he “got Waymo to admit they are using people 8,000 miles away in the Philippines” to guide their self-driving U.S. cars.)
And while robotaxis are unlikely to solve the region’s traffic woes, they could reduce the need for urban parking, which would free up desperately needed land in a built-out city like Boston.
Eric Paley, a venture capitalist who joined Gov. Maura Healey’s cabinet as her economic development chief last year, seemed bullish on AVs as he moderated a panel that followed Moavenzadeh’s presentation. He said he was an investor in Uber and among the first investors in Cruise, a company that became a General Motors subsidiary.
Waymo is “the brand with the most miles and the most safety data,” he said, and asked panelists whether Waymo should be let loose in Massachusetts. Two panelists in the industry said yes, while consultant and researcher Jane Lappin said maybe. “I think they’ve got to do a better job of explaining how they drive past the stop sign and how they hit a kid in a school zone.”
Karl Iagnemma, the Vecna Robotics CEO who was also on the panel, pitched the regulators in the UMass Club room, noting that California has the most burdensome regulations, but there is still plenty of AV activity. “There has to be clarity. And even if it’s somewhat burdensome, people will invest here, as long as they’re confident they know the rules of the game,” he said.
“This is something that will be a major industry in Massachusetts,” he added. “But if we’re not careful, it’s going to disappear.”
Have you taken a ride in a self-driving car? I’m interested in hearing about your experience: [email protected].
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HAPPENING TODAY
10:15 | The Cannabis Control Commission holds a public meeting. The agenda includes discussion on delegation of powers to approve licenses, policy surrounding the open meeting law, and release of executive session minutes and a stipulated agreement with Assured Testing Laboratories LLC. | More Info and Access
10:00 | Gov. Maura Healey attends the funeral mass for Captain Accursio Gus Sanfilippo. | 60 Prospect St, Gloucester
12:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins GBH News' Boston Public Radio for her "Ask the Mayor" segment. | GBH 89.7 FM | Livestream
12:00 | Primary care physicians from Mass General Brigham plan to brief lawmakers on the "escalating primary care crisis in Massachusetts and its impact on patient access." | Room 437, State House, Boston
1:00 | The Senate Committee on the Census meets, with a focus on how Massachusetts population trends could impact congressional representation and state redistricting. Newly released census data showed 33,340 Bay Staters left and went to other states between July 1, 2024 and July 1, 2025. | Room A-2, State House, Boston | Agenda and Livestream
1:00 | The Local Government Advisory Commission meets. Agenda features remarks from Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and LGAC Chair and Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove. After Administration & Finance Secretary Matt Gorzkowicz gives an update on tax revenue collections and an overview of Gov. Maura Healey's fiscal 2027 budget. | Room 157, State House, Boston | Agenda and Access Info
1:30 | Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Mayor Michelle Wu, House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, Boston 26 CEO Mike Loynd hold a FIFA press conference on the latest plans for fan celebrations. | City Hall Plaza, 5 Congress Street, Boston
MASSterList Job Board |
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Procurement Support Analyst — NEW!, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General |
President & CEO, FamilyAid Boston |
Division Chief, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General |
Special Assistant, Office of Congressman Seth Moulton |
Select Board Executive Assistant, Town of Southborough |
Administrative & Operations Associate, Providers’ Council |
Comptroller, Massachusetts Association of Approved Special Education Schools |
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FROM BEACON HILL
HEALEY BACKS AIDE: Gov. Maura Healey said her media director, who is suing the Trump administration for delaying her application for permanent residency, has “done everything right” and wants to become a U.S. citizen. Her job is in danger as her H-1B visa is about to expire. – WBUR
VOTER ROLLS: The American Civil Liberties Union of Mass. and Common Cause Massachusetts are joining other groups in asking a judge to reject a lawsuit against Secretary of State Bill Galvin over turning over a list of the state’s registered voters and their Social Security numbers to the U.S. Department of Justice. – Eagle-Tribune
STATE POLICE CHARGES: Staffers at the Massachusetts State Police Academy were hit with involuntary manslaughter charges after the 2024 death of recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia. Attorney General Andrea Campbell and outside attorney David Meier announced the charges after a 16-month investigation. – GBH News
NEWS NEXT DOOR
IGNORING COURT RULINGS: Federal immigration officials have held in Texas for the last five months a Boston-area Irish man who is married to a U.S. citizen, has a valid U.S. work permit and has worked in the country for 20 years. A judge approved his release on a bond paid by his wife, and ignored by immigration officials. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has repeatedly ignored and defied court rulings. – Irish Times and POLITICO
TUFTS STUDENT’S CASE: An immigration court dropped the case against a Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk, who was taken by masked federal agents less than a year ago. – Wall Street Journal
MORE LAYOFFS: Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. plans to shut down a Springfield production facility later this year and lay off 190 employees. – Boston Business Journal
MBTA UPGRADE: Back Bay Station’s makeover is underway. It was first set to begin in 2023. Now plans call for the work to be done in 2027. – StreetsBlogMass
SPRINGFIELD CONTROVERSY: Springfield City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti’s memo said the new city council president, Tracye Whitfield, violated state ethics law in “multiple ways” in a debate over the discontinuation of a street. – Western Mass. Politics & Insight
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Training Program Coordinator: MA Legal Aid and Community Education Project (LACE), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Executive Director, Center for Health Information and Analysis, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Controller, Commonwealth Corporation
Director of Administration & Finance, Pioneer Institute
Senior Investigator, ISAU, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Controller, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Director of Preliminary Investigations, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
Chief Planner, City of Newton
Director of Policy and Program Operations, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health
