What will be raised by the taxi and private hire industry when it comes to giving evidence on self-driving regulations?
- Perry Richardson
- 17 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Government’s latest move to gather evidence on self-driving regulation has landed with weight inside the taxi and private hire industry. While ministers frame autonomous vehicles as a national growth engine, operators and drivers sense a shift that could fundamentally alter how the on-demand transport market functions.
For a trade already grappling with uneven regulation and continued technological disruption, the arrival of automated fleets is not a distant concept. It is now a formal part of the policy timetable and demands a serious response.
At the heart of the industry’s evidence is likely to be the question: who carries the responsibilities currently shouldered by licensed drivers? From safeguarding to medical checks to the day-to-day judgement calls that keep passengers safe, the existing system builds public trust by attaching duties to individuals. Remove the driver and those duties must migrate somewhere. Taxi operators know that if accountability is not properly defined, public confidence will evaporate and, with it, the credibility of automated point-to-point services. Submissions are likely to make clear that safety cannot be diluted to suit commercial timelines.
There is also a quiet but unmistakable anxiety over market access. Traditional operators already contend with national platforms leveraging scale to reshape local markets. The entry of automated fleets backed by major technology firms would raise the stakes again. The trade wants assurances that AV operators will face the same licensing hurdles, the same scrutiny and the same service-level expectations that taxi and PHV firms meet daily. Without that, local control risks being sidelined by national frameworks that leave councils with limited power to protect service standards.
As ministers push ahead with an AV framework, the taxi and PHV sector faces a moment that could define its future role in on-demand transport
Employment sits just beneath the surface of every discussion on this topic as thousands of drivers who depend on work could be marginalised by automation in unpredictable ways. Trade bodies are not likely to call for the technology to be halted, but they are preparing evidence that urges a phased and transparent transition. They want Government to confront the real-world consequences of replacing labour with software, and to consider whether hybrid operating models or supervisory roles for licensed drivers could cushion the disruption.
Accessibility, however, may prove the sector’s strongest line of argument. Taxis fill gaps that other services leave behind. They carry wheelchair users in vehicles designed for them. They help passengers with mobility challenges during pickups and drop-offs. They deal with complex, human situations for which automation currently has no convincing answer. Operators are preparing to stress that any self-driving regime which fails to match or exceed current accessibility obligations will not command the confidence of disabled passengers. For a Government framing AVs as a mobility revolution, that critique could be hard to ignore.
Data is another battleground. Automated fleets will generate vast streams of information. There may be question around who owns it and who has access to it. Fair reporting of incidents, transparent sharing of operational data and robust cyber protections are all areas where the industry believes the Government must be explicit rather than optimistic.
As the Call for Evidence gets under way, the taxi and PHV sector finds itself in a rare position. It is being asked not only to react to policy but to help shape a future that could undermine or enhance its relevance. Whether the final framework supports a diverse market or accelerates consolidation will depend heavily on how these early arguments are made and how seriously ministers take them.
