NEW SET OF RULES: TfL reveal autonomous Uber service is unlikely to fall under taxi or private hire vehicle licensing regulations
- Perry Richardson
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Transport for London (TfL) faced a series of regulatory and operational questions as it prepares for the arrival of autonomous vehicle (AV) trials in the capital. Uber has announced its intention to begin public road trials of fully driverless vehicles in London from next year, prompting discussions at City Hall about safety, licensing and employment implications.
TfL officials told the London Assembly’s Transport Committee that their overriding concern is safety. Christina Calderato, Director of Transport Strategy and Policy at TfL, said any deployment of autonomous vehicles must contribute to Vision Zero — the policy targeting the elimination of deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads. Calderato confirmed that TfL is working with government and private operators, including Uber, to understand how AVs can be integrated safely and effectively.
However, the arrival of AVs raises concerns about their regulatory classification. TfL stated that current AV proposals would not be classed as either taxis or private hire vehicles (PHVs), meaning they would fall outside existing regulatory frameworks. This could potentially undermine existing standards applied to licenced services.
Calderato said: “I think one of the things it's really important for us to say from the outset, and Helen might want to say more on this, is that these would not be taxi or PHV services and so they are different offerings and the public therefore can expect different things from them. So I think if you are looking to have a PHV which is licenced and regulated in the way that we do with TfL that's what we get from a PHV service and that's what we need to kind of, that AV offering as we understand at the moment would be outside of that kind of taxi or bus regulation.”
Helen Chapman, TfL’s Director of Licensing, Regulation and Charging, said AV operations may require a new category of “permit”, but admitted the specifics are still being developed in collaboration with the Government. Until legislative reforms are enacted, TfL’s ability to impose safety and accessibility standards on AV operators remain unclear.
Accessibility was another area of concern raised by Assembly Members. Questions were asked about whether the new autonomous vehicles would be suitable for disabled passengers, particularly in the absence of features such as drop-down curbs or audio-visual announcements. Calderato said these issues would be part of TfL’s input into the Government’s consultation, but admitted there is currently no regulatory requirement for AVs to meet accessibility standards.
The potential impact on employment in the private hire and taxi sectors also formed a significant part of the discussion. While TfL insists that AVs will not be treated as PHV services, they acknowledged that the introduction of unregulated driverless vehicles could affect demand for licenced drivers. TfL stopped short of proposing protections for current drivers or any transition support if jobs are displaced.
The use of AVs could also have implications for congestion. While shared autonomous fleets might reduce car ownership in theory, concerns were raised about increased traffic if large numbers of AVs are deployed. TfL said it will monitor the impact of trials to assess how AVs interact with other traffic and what effect they may have on road space and journey times.
TfL also confirmed that data transparency would be critical to the success of the trials. There were calls for AV operators — including Uber — to share safety and performance data with the authority. Members of the committee drew comparisons to cities like New York, where data sharing is a licencing condition. TfL responded that changes to legislation would be required to enforce such a requirement in London.
In the absence of detailed regulatory controls, some Assembly Members expressed concerns about the potential for a growing fleet of unregulated AVs operating without accountability. They urged TfL to push for national legislation that ensures safety, accessibility, congestion control and driver protections remain central to the introduction of AV technology.
As trials begin, TfL says it will report back on its findings and continue discussions with both government and operators. However, questions remain about how London can balance innovation in mobility with the need to protect passengers, workers and the integrity of its transport system.
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