DC committee kills bill that would have allowed driverless taxis by 2028

And some late-breaking news here out of D.C., where driverless taxis will not be coming to the city anytime soon. A critical transportation committee killing that legislation, which would have paved the way for autonomous vehicles in the nation's capital. Fox 5's Homa Bash has been following those developments tonight. Homa? Marina, good evening. This vote just ending in the last hour, 3-4-3 against, which means the bill does not advance. Now, the council members who voted no on this, including Mayor-elect Denise Lewis-George, say they're not against driverless taxis on D.C. roads, they're not against innovation or technology, but they have a lot of concerns and they do not want to rush this. We don't need to and shouldn't beg businesses to be here, but we do have an opportunity before us today to signal that with the right protections in place, the district can be a leader in innovation that treats their workers with dignity. This technology itself still is in its test phase, and D.C. cannot be a guinea pig. As a responsible leader, I cannot support us being a guinea pig because of our unique position. I do want to work with you, and I want my administration to work with you to get deployment right. Now Waymo has been testing its autonomous vehicles in the district with human drivers for more than two years now, but they want to eventually let them operate as they're meant to be without anyone in the driver's seat and with paying passengers. This updated bill that was before D.C. Council by Councilmember Charles Allen, it would have let that happen as soon as 2028. It came with a cap of 200 robo taxis per company, 800 across all operators, fairly strict oversight. Supporters say the tech Could bring in more jobs with everyone Waymo needs to operate its vehicles. And some business leaders I spoke with, they're worried D.C. could be left behind if it doesn't act quickly to allow them. But labor unions have been pushing back against this for months now, citing safety concerns and jobless losses. Take a listen now to both sides. I don't want to see Maryland or Virginia. Taking the lead on this, because they're going to do it. If we don't do it, they're definitely going to do it. And I would like for us to take the lead. We are the nation's capital. We are the leaders of the world. Let's take advantage of it, and let's show people how to lead. If I had it my way, robots would never make it through our city. But we also understand that technology is here. We're not opposed to innovation. Thank you very much. We just think that rushing such an important bill through, it's irresponsible. And we think that we need to take our time to do it right. And make sure that we have the right protections for workers. As it stands right now, Waymo operates in 15 cities across the country, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles. And after this bill was killed today in this transportation committee, D.C. for now will not be one of them again. The council members who voted no said they're not opposed. They would like to eventually see them here, but they think there still needs to be more work done to address those unique challenges and concerns that we have here in D.C., Whether it is labor union rights, motorcades, protests, rallies, pedestrians, and emergency... Emergency vehicles on DC Streets Marina.