On 22nd May 2026, the Department for Transport announced that it is now accepting applications for operators to run taxi, bus and private hire-style selfdriving vehicles. This pilot scheme called as the Automated Passenger Service (APS) enables developers to bring their selfdriving vehicle technology on UK roads as a commercial service, allowing UK public to book these vehicles just like they would book a human-driven taxi or a private hire.
In the UK, London is at the heart of this transport revolution. After decades of science-fiction speculation and toy-experiments, robotaxis (selfdriving vehicles) are set to become a reality on the city's streets this year.
Major players including UK’s homegrown leading tech developer Wayve (in partnership with Uber), Waymo (owned by Google's parent company Alphabet), and China-based Baidu, are all preparing to trial and eventually launch autonomous ride-hailing services across the capital. On the societal aspect, the Government and many technology advocates (like me) have vociferously mentioned about the potential safety benefits for our roads along with “opening up independent travel for disabled people and older adults”. This also aligns with London Mayor’s Transport Strategy and its Vision Zero initiative of reducing fatal and serious road collisions to zero by 2041. On the economic side, the technology and the automated vehicle sector is poised for “driving growth and creating high-skilled jobs across the UK”.
Understanding the trials: Automated Passenger Service scheme
London's robotaxi moment has been enabled by a significant piece of legislation. The UK passed the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act in May 2024, creating a legal framework for self-driving vehicles on public roads and establishing liability rules for operators and insurers. The government subsequently fast-tracked plans for APS to spring 2026, with full self-driving vehicle regulations expected to be in force by late 2027.
The process of allowing robotaxis on London’s streets (or any other UK city) involves various sections of the UK government. While the actual permits for robotaxis to carry fee-paying passengers will be issued by the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA), the safety of the base vehicle will be evaluated (and approved if appropriate) by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). As the robotaxis will be deployment in cities, consent from local authorities like Transport for London is also needed. The entire process is overseen by one of Department for Transport’s (DfT) unit, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). Both DVSA and VCA are Arm’s Length Bodies (ALMs) or agencies of DfT, but are expected to maintain their independence in their evaluations and judgements. Thus, for Londoners to experience robotaxis, all of these organisations, DVSA, VCA and Transport for London (and its boroughs) will need to agree. Navigating this landscape takes time.
Even when the approval is given, any developer (like the ones mentioned earlier) will take a graduated rollout to deployment. Beginning with small number of vehicles in geographically limited areas, allowing real-world data to be gathered without exposing the broader public to unacceptable risk. The pretence that suddenly London will have thousands of robotaxis is completely false. Reality is that we are looking at tens of vehicles initially (not even hundreds).
All’s well? Not completely, but there’s hope.
Trust must be earned. Trust must be built incrementally. These are the two principles of building public trust.
For Londoners, robotaxi vehicles are becoming an increasingly common sight albeit in their data collection and/or testing phase. Social media is abuzz with pictures of Waymo’s all-electric Jaguar i-Pace vehicles and Wayve’s Ford Mustang Mach-E driving around London streets, while wowing most Londoners. Amidst the euphoria, there are still some sceptics who need more convincing or need to be provided with accurate information.
London's roads are ancient, narrow, complex and unpredictable, unlike grid-like streets in the US cities. There are cyclists, pedestrians, buses, and a constant stream of delivery vehicles competing for space. Edge cases that an algorithm has never encountered are not hypothetical. They are an everyday certainty. London's iconic black cab drivers have spent years mastering London’s streets through the tough “Knowledge of London” test. While it may be slightly biased due to self-interest, but their concerns reflect a broader wariness about handing the wheel entirely to a machine.
Transport for London (TfL), like any authority, has a duty and responsibility towards its constituents, the Londoners. While TfL is keen that “London harnesses all the opportunities of the latest technological innovation”, they also want transport solutions (like robotaxis) to align with the Major’s transport strategy. To demonstrate this alignment, conversations need to be had, and evidence needs to be generated.
This is precisely the reason for the creation of organisations like Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) UK, who were setup to provide the independent voice, engaging with stakeholders, listening to their concerns and addressing them through accurate and inclusive awareness programmes. PAVE UK is undertaking a programme of discussions with local authorities (including TfL) about introduction of robotaxis in local councils, including the upcoming Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth in early July.
Fixing the narrative: from job losses to new job opportunities
In an event last month jointly held by PAVE UK and Asian Voice for the British Asian community on London’s robotaxi future, the audience highlighted their growing concern (in the British Asian community) about job losses. Interestingly, most in the audience had the same notion of London getting completely swamped by thousands of robotaxis. In the short to medium term (at least the next decades), we will see a co-existence of both robotaxis and human-driven taxis. Putting things into perspective, even after 15 years of trial and deployment in San Francisco, Waymo has less than 2000 robotaxis in San Francisco. The narrative of job loss is not only blown out of proportion but is also incorrect.
On the other hand, a completely ignored narrative (and fact) is that the introduction of robotaxis will create new job opportunities. Roles like fleet operator or fleet management or robotaxi service manager etc. will be needed to ensure safe operation of the robotaxi service.
Having heard these concerns myself at the event, these days whenever I am taking a black cab ride in London, I make it a point to ask the driver about his thoughts on robotaxis (it helps that there is always one passing near us), and ensure that at the end of the conversation the driver has a correct understanding for both the technology, the scale and future opportunities, as that is key for building trust in technology.
Furthermore, to better understand the impact of robotaxis in London, even the London Assembly’s Transport Select Committee has launched its own investigation on the future of robotaxis (autonomous passenger vehicles) for London and will be hearing oral evidence through the next months from a variety of stakeholders.
London has always reinvented its transport infrastructure. From the world's first underground railway to introducing the Congestion Charge. Now, robotaxis are the next chapter. With the support from independent voices like PAVE UK, the triumph of this technology is completely dependent on the openness, transparency and willingness in conversations between all the parties: the developers, national government, local authorities like TfL and the public.
To bring robotaxis on road, the parties need to come to the table first.
