China · The Guardian Technology
London rollout of robotaxis delayed amid lack of guidance for firms to follow
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The rollout of robotaxis on the streets of London is unlikely to happen this year, as regulatory and technical hurdles push back the ambitious schedule set out by the UK government.
Key facts
- In 2025, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, accelerated the proposed timeline for commercial trials of fully driverless taxi services by a year, announcing that they would start in the spring
- Uber and Wayve have said that more than 100,000 Londoners were on their waiting list for self-driving taxis
- TfL has granted 15 private hire vehicle licences to Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Wayve’s artificial intelligence driving software, as well as surround cameras and radar
- Ben Loewenstein, Waymo’s head of policy and government affairs for the UK and Europe, told the Financial Times that the company was currently “working through the safety approval process
Summary
Only weeks ago Uber and London-based Wayve were granted the first minicab licences in the capital to allow them to offer self-driving taxi rides to paying customers, but with a human safety driver in place, for now, and said they would start trips “later this summer” before a full public launch. In 2025, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, accelerated the proposed timeline for commercial trials of fully driverless taxi services by a year, announcing that they would start in the spring of this year. However, progress has slowed in recent months and Transport for London (TfL) has still not published the guidance that companies wanting to offer services must follow to win its approval.