Overview
- The Service Employees International Union filed a complaint Tuesday asking the California Public Utilities Commission to suspend Waymo’s permit and consider fines until compliance is demonstrated.
- The CPUC’s 2020 decision governing autonomous ride-hail services states that no one under 18 may travel unaccompanied, and a prior Waymo request to change that rule was rejected.
- In a January CPUC proceeding, a Waymo attorney acknowledged instances in which parents used the service for minors, while noting the company’s terms prohibit unaccompanied children and allow account suspension for violations.
- The CPUC is in the middle of updating autonomous vehicle policies that include the question of transporting minors, and no public enforcement action suspending Waymo’s permit has been announced.
- Gig worker advocates argue there is a double standard because human ride-hail drivers face discipline for carrying unaccompanied minors, whereas they say regulators have not acted against Waymo.