When is Washington DC getting Waymo? Councilman introduces legislation

A long-stalled effort to bring self-driving rideshares to Washington DC took a step forward Thursday as a councilmember introduced legislation that would allow autonomous vehicles — such as Waymo — to operate in the District.

The legislation, called the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, is aimed at addressing many of the concerns that have stalled the rollout of driverless rideshare services in the District, according to DC Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the bill.

Here's what to know about the act and why efforts to bring Waymo and other self-driving rideshare companies to Washington DC have stalled.

What is the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026?

Current law does not explicitly permit fully autonomous vehicles to operate as rideshare services in DC, something Allen is hoping to fix with his new legislation.

“People want AVs as an option to get around, and I want DC to be a city that embraces innovation," Allen said. "We didn’t need to be the first city to bring driverless cars to our streets, but I don’t want us to be the last. This bill incorporates important lessons learned from around the country and embraces a broader view of the impacts — both good and bad — that AVs will have on our city.”

Under the proposal, companies would be allowed to deploy fully driverless vehicles for rideshare services, while also being required to meet new safety and regulatory standards set by the District.

The bill would require companies to obtain permits, share operational data with the city and follow guidelines aimed at ensuring passenger and pedestrian safety.

It also sets requirements to ensure each neighborhood of DC receives equal service, addressing concerns that the rideshares could be limited to certain parts of the city.

What has been the holdup in bringing Waymo to DC?

Waymo, the Google-owned self-driving service offered in 11 American cities, announced in March 2025 it was laying the groundwork for its ride-hailing service to be introduced in DC sometime in 2026, but a regulatory fight has stalled its efforts.

The company began testing vehicles in DC in 2024, and the Amazon-owned Zoox later announced its own plans to operate in DC. For the time being, they have only been allowed to test with humans behind the wheel.

In 2020 the DC Council passed a law to allow testing for self-driving cars but required a safety study before fully driverless operations could move forward.

That study has yet to happen. Funding to launch it was cut from the city’s budget last fall, stalling progress on broader regulations, according to WUSA.

Waymo said in a February statement to WUSA the DC City Council and District Department of Transportation "have not made progress on a report or new rules, and have indicated there are no plans to move forward with regulation hearings in the near-term."

“We're now asking the council and mayor to enact commonsense regulations that enable Waymo to bring the same safe, reliable and accessible service to D.C. that we currently provide in five major U.S. cities, hundreds of thousands of times every week," Waymo said last fall in a statement to The 51st.