San Diego is pushing back against Waymo’s driverless expansion with a unanimous demand for local control.
The city council voted 8-0 on Monday to pass a resolution calling on Sacramento to hand authority over robotaxi operations to municipal governments, after the California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo’s entry into San Diego without local input. The fleet launched September 1.
Councilmember Sean Elo Rivera framed the vote as a human-centered measure rather than a rejection of progress. “This is definitely not an anti-technology resolution; it’s not an anti-innovation resolution; this is about people,” he said during the meeting.
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who also serves on the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, raised economic concerns alongside safety worries. She warned that autonomous vehicles threaten one of the remaining livelihoods for traditional taxi drivers. “That is one of the last places that taxi drivers can make a living,” she said.
The resolution would block driverless cars from operating at San Diego Airport entirely.
Von Wilpert’s sharpest criticism came after presentation clips showed autonomous vehicles obstructing emergency responders and stalling in traffic lanes. “This is unacceptable,” she said. “When our firefighters, our police officers, our ambulance drivers, our EMTs are responding to a 911 life or death emergency, every second counts. … Nothing should be in their way. Not a company, not an algorithm, not an autonomous driverless vehicle.”
The approved resolution grants fire departments and police explicit power to “track, stop, or move empty vehicles during emergencies.”
Adam Lane, a state and local policy manager at Waymo, defended the company’s safety record during the session. He noted the company completed a CPUC review in 2025 and pointed to internal data claiming 94% fewer serious injury crashes. “Thousands of safe trips have already been completed,” Lane said.
He emphasized local engagement efforts, adding that Waymo had “already trained nearly 300 San Diego first responders and partnered with airport leadership through three months of testing at San Diego Airport to ensure orderly, safe curbside operations.”
The CPUC’s August approval cleared Waymo for broader California expansion, adding San Diego and Sacramento to its existing Los Angeles and Bay Area service territories. The company called the decision “an important milestone that will allow Waymo to bring the safety and mobility benefits millions of Californians already enjoy to more communities across the state” in a press release.
Waymo pledged the expansion “will be gradual and guided by our safety framework.”
The San Diego clash follows months of mounting friction between California municipalities and autonomous vehicle operators, with San Francisco previously emerging as the most visible battleground over robotaxi street presence and emergency interference incidents.
“We look forward to bringing the same mobility and safety benefits millions of Californians already enjoy to more communities, keeping local officials and residents informed every step of the way,” Waymo said.
The resolution now heads to state lawmakers without binding force, leaving San Diego to negotiate with regulators as driverless vehicles continue rolling through its streets.