A Waymo self-driving taxi cruises up Pine Street in San Francisco this summer.
San Diego, California – Driverless cars may soon join the nightly traffic downtown, as Waymo pushes to bring its autonomous robotaxis to San Diego as early as next year. The company confirmed it’s seeking permits to operate its all-electric fleet locally, with hopes of launching service once state regulators sign off.
For riders like Cari Heisner-Koch, who often ends nights out by hailing a rideshare home, the idea of summoning a car with no driver behind the wheel is both futuristic and unnerving. But it’s the human drivers who stand to lose work—rideshare, taxi, and delivery workers—who have the most at stake.
That’s the concern driving San Diego City Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who chairs the Metropolitan Transit System’s Taxicab Advisory Committee. The committee voted this week to oppose Waymo’s rollout and urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to give cities the power to decide whether autonomous vehicles can operate in their neighborhoods. They also recommended allowing community members to vote on whether they want them at all.
Elo-Rivera said the goal isn’t to stop innovation, but to protect workers whose livelihoods could evaporate. “I wanted to figure out what we can do to protect workers, to protect the families who depend on that work, but also to make sure we have a conversation about local say in technologies like this that can really upend a community,” he said.
Residents are split. Some, like Vicky Gomez, react with instinctive shock when they see a driverless vehicle glide past: “Oh crap, nobody is driving that car.” Others compare the rollout to the delivery robots and self-driving pizza cars already roaming pockets of the city.
“Okay, we’re in the future now and that’s weird and I’m not sure I’m ready for it,” said Tracy McGarvey. Heisner-Koch echoed that hesitation: “Just not quite trustworthy yet, until there’s a record out there about them.”
Still, some San Diegans are ready to embrace the change. Scott Cook, a Tesla owner, shrugged off the concerns: “I use autopilot all the time. I don’t think there’s a difference.”
Waymo pointed to Mayor Todd Gloria’s support in a statement this week, saying that autonomous cars could make transportation “more accessible, more sustainable, and more connected to everyone in our community.”
If approved, Waymo plans to begin service downtown before expanding into Pacific Beach, Mission Hills, Liberty Station, Temecula Heights, Montecito Point, and Grant Hill—potentially reshaping how the city moves long before many residents feel ready for a driverless future.
