Londoners are likely to wait longer than expected to use fully driverless taxis as regulatory hurdles delay the rollout.
Uber and Waymo are among the operators who are planning to introduce robotaxis to the UK capital, where passengers will be driven by a fully automated vehicle.
Despite announcements last year that driverless private car hire could come to London by 2026, it is expected that this will be delayed due to a lack of permit approval by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and operational guidelines from Transport for London (TfL).
TfL says that it has yet to receive the required registrations from driverless car operators.
Under the government’s piloting scheme, any passenger-carrying service with no human driver will require an automated passenger services (APS) permit.
“The APS permit is granted by the government through the DVSA, with TfL giving consent at the end of the process,” a spokesperson for TfL said. “It is our understanding that no operator has completed the first stage of the process, which is registering vehicles with the vehicle certification agency, and no applications for a DVSA permit, or TfL consent to operate in London, have been received.”
The DfT added in a statement that the regulatory framework is still being developed to fully introduce self-driving cars “from 2027”.
In the interim, Uber and its vehicle partner Wayve are expected to launch a small-scale pilot that allows the companies to offer self-driving taxi rides to customers with a human safety driver behind the wheel.
Last month, Christina Calderato, TfL’s director of strategy, told the London Assembly’s transport committee that she does “not think TfL are in a rush” to publish its driverless car guidelines due to the “huge amount of work going on behind the scenes”.
This is despite transport secretary Heidi Alexander accelerating the timetable for driverless cars last year, leaving the department and operators hoping to launch by spring 2026.
A TfL spokesperson told The Independent that the guidance “will be issued shortly” but did not confirm a specific date.
Meanwhile, Waymo told The Independent that it still intends to operate its driverless cars by the end of the year, “subject to government approval”.
“We will review TfL’s APS consent guidance when it is published and will work diligently to earn their consent,” it added.
Alex Kendall, Wayve’s chief executive, said, according to the Financial Times, that it is not focusing on a specific date yet until regulations are finalised.
“We have never claimed we would have a fully driverless operation this year,” Mr Kendall said. “I don’t want to put a timeline on it because I want to make sure we pass through [the regulatory process]. This work is continuing at pace.”
Driverless taxis are already in dozens of cities across the world, including in China and the US.
This month, Zagreb became the first European city to offer autonomous rides, but the service, available to book through Uber, still has an operator on board behind the wheel as part of the initial launch.
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