WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District Department of Transportation is urging the D.C. Council to strengthen safeguards in proposed legislation that would authorize commercial autonomous vehicle deployment, including a more flexible phased approval process and stronger tools for responding to unsafe operators.
In testimony released Tuesday on Bill 26-0684, the Autonomous Vehicles Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026, DDOT Innovation Branch Manager Stephanie Dock said self-driving vehicles could eventually improve road safety, traffic flow and mobility for people with disabilities and underserved neighborhoods. She also cautioned that deployment will require careful policy choices and could reshape transportation jobs.
The bill would establish several approvals for autonomous vehicles, including a testing permit, a commercial deployment permit and a separate ride-hail certification. It would also create an Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Fund supported by industry fees, including a $5 million permit fee and a tax based on vehicle miles traveled.
DDOT said the legislation’s current pathway is too rigid because it largely relies on one testing threshold: 180 days and more than 250,000 miles before a company may apply for a deployment permit. The agency recommended allowing regulators to design a staged and gated process that can consider whether testing miles were driverless, where and under what conditions testing occurred, and what performance would disqualify a company from advancing.
Dock also asked lawmakers to strengthen accountability provisions. According to the testimony, the proposed $1,000 cap per offense is lower than the District’s typical public-space fine structure. DDOT wants authority to restrict or geofence autonomous vehicles during emergencies beyond the testing phase and raised concerns about whether the proposed suspension and revocation provisions would let the city act effectively against unsafe or uncooperative operators.
The agency further recommended limiting deployment to fleet-operated vehicles for now rather than allowing personally owned autonomous vehicles to register in the District. DDOT argued that privately owned vehicles would be harder to regulate and that self-driving capabilities can be overstated to drivers, creating risks for occupants and other road users.
DDOT said it expects to publish recommendations on commercial autonomous vehicle deployment later this summer. That report will address agency responsibilities, phased deployment, existing regulatory frameworks and which requirements should be set in legislation versus regulations.
Image: An autonomous vehicle trial. Photo by Hugh Venables/Geograph Britain and Ireland, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Source: District Department of Transportation testimony on Bill 26-0684.
The Washington Herald
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