Scoop: Waymo steps up lobbying after D.C. delays robotaxis
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Waymo has been testing its Jaguars on D.C. streets — with a human inside. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
D.C.'s robotaxi rollout has slowed to a crawl, so Waymo has been dropping big bucks on a D.C. lobbying blitz.
The big picture: Waymo is tapping $16 billion in fresh capital to accelerate its national expansion. But not so fast in D.C., where council members are deferring approval until a long-awaited study gets done.
State of play: That study, compelled by law, required DDOT to issue a report within a year on how to "safely accommodate the deployment of autonomous vehicles on public roadways." The due date: Fall 2022.
- Some expected the report would finally be done by spring 2025 — a year after Waymo deployed its test vehicles in the city. Nope.
- Now, Waymo tells Axios DDOT informed the company that its report is being actively worked on, and could be finished by this summer.
Behind the scenes: Waymo is beefing up its lobbying bench.
- The company's dispatching $10,000 monthly retainers apiece to a firm started by former council member David Catania and to Holland & Knight rainmaker Janene Jackson, per disclosure filings.
- Also on the unusually deep roster: Eight current or former Waymo officials, plus Cornerstone Government Affairs and Thorn Pozen, a fixture in city lobbying.
- Waymo recently encouraged supporters to pressure city hall in writing.
Friction point: Council member Charles Allen told Axios last December that he wants to see the DDOT report in order to move forward.
- He blamed Mayor Muriel Bowser for not issuing permits for Waymo to start its next testing phase, without human drivers.
Between the lines: Some watching the Wilson Building chalk up the delays to a lame-duck mayor who's in no hurry to start something new. After San Francisco and Atlanta, Waymo is now in ten cities, and next week lawmakers in Maryland are holding a hearing on robotaxis.
- "It's not us," a Bowser official tells Axios, requesting anonymity to talk candidly because they aren't authorized to speak to press.
- DDOT is "being super diligent with their research," they add.
The intrigue: Mayoral candidate and Council member Janeese Lewis George recently said she doesn't think D.C. is ready.
- Lewis George wants the safety study first but also worries about job displacement, as does a prominent local labor union, which endorsed her for mayor.
- Her opponent, former council member Kenyan McDuffie, introduced the bill to legalize self-driving cars.
What they're saying: "The agency expects to propose recommendations on the deployment of AVs later this year," a DDOT spokesperson told Axios in an email.