Minneapolis City Council fails to override mayoral veto of autonomous rideshare rules

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of regulations on autonomous rideshare vehicles in the city survived an override vote by the City Council on Thursday.

After the vote failed, backers of the rules on robotaxis said they’ll make another attempt to regulate the industry.

The council needed nine votes to override Frey’s veto — but only seven council members supported the attempt.

Among other measures, the proposed regulations would have required human safety monitors inside autonomous rideshare vehicles.

Supporters of the proposal said it’s needed to protect thousands of rideshare jobs. Frey had said what the council passed amounted to a back-door ban on companies like Waymo — and he called for “thoughtful regulation for safety.”

Speaking after the vote, council member Robin Wonsley said she and her fellow supporters of the proposal will “continue the efforts and fight to hold big tech accountable and protect our communities from the economic and physical dangers of autonomous robotaxis.”

“I look forward to continuing the work to pass regulations on big tech robotaxis that put workers and local government in the driver’s seat,” Wonsley said. “We’re not done. We’re going to continue the work.”

Waymo has been test-driving its vehicles in Minneapolis since last winter, with people behind the wheel — but has not yet started taking customers.

In St. Paul, the City Council this week made its own move toward regulations on the industry. The council adopted a resolution directing the city’s planning commission to study autonomous vehicles and suggest potential guardrails around safety, data-sharing and worker protections.

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