Online Lunchtime Briefing on Waymo Today

 

Get up to speed with the Say No to Waymo campaign led by Brent Green Party 💚 councillors Amandine Alexandre and Suzanne Gallagher, ADCU (App Drivers and Couriers Union) and Pull the Plug 🔌

🗓️ Thursday 18 June 
🕰️ 12.30pm-1.15pm 
📍Online 

https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/332833596016648?p=UKNooZqLCpdK3fKDWh

The event is open to everyone.

Harlesden Says No to Waymo - read and sign the petition if you agree with the reasoned argument put forward

 

We petition the Mayor of London to:

• Implement an immediate moratorium on the expansion of the Waymo pilot until a transparent safety audit is completed.

• Publish a full log of all safety breaches, "near misses", and traffic violations involving autonomous vehicles in London to date.

Why is this important?

Over the last few weeks, American company WAYMO has been testing autonomous vehicles in Harlesden and across London. On 22 April, a WAYMO vehicle drove through a live police cordon on Harlesden High Street while officers were investigating a double stabbing.


We, the undersigned, call on the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) to immediately suspend the trial and roll out of Waymo autonomous vehicles on London’s streets. We further request a police investigation into near misses and other incidents where public safety was at risk. 

REASONS FOR THIS PETITION

The current rollout of Waymo autonomous vehicles (AVs) across London, and specifically within the Harlesden area, is proceeding without adequate democratic oversight or proven safety protocols for complex urban environments. Our concerns are based on the following:

1. Breach of Police Cordons: Footage has emerged of a Waymo vehicle in Harlesden breaching a live police line. Such actions constitute "wilful obstruction" of the police. If a driver of a regular vehicle had committed this act, they would likely be under investigation and could face criminal prosecution. We cannot allow a "two-tier" justice system where corporate AI is exempt from the laws that govern Londoners.

2. Unresolved Safety Risks: Autonomous vehicles are struggling to navigate the "edge cases" of London’s busy streets, including responding to emergency sirens, physical police barriers, and the unpredictable movements of pedestrians and cyclists in high-density areas like Harlesden.

3. Lack of Community Consent: Residents in Brent have not been adequately consulted on this trial. Public streets are being treated as a laboratory for unproven technology without a clear framework for liability when things go wrong.

4. Extra traffic on our roads: if Waymo or any other autonomous vehicles are allowed on the streets of London, that will lead to extra traffic on our roads. It will further compromise the Mayor of London's traffic reduction aims, led by Sadiq Khan, focus on reducing overall traffic volumes by 10-15% by 2041 and cutting car kilometres by 27% by 2030 to meet Net Zero and health targets. We need more accessible and affordable public transport, instead of more cars on our roads.

5. Vision Zero Compromise : The Mayor’s "Vision Zero" strategy aims to eliminate road danger. Introducing vehicles that fail to recognise and respect police cordons is a direct contradiction of this safety goal.

 

IF YOU AGREE SIGN HERE 

London Mayor's Inquiry into Robotaxis - Call for evidence. Deadline June 26th 2026

 

Discussing the Waymo issues in Harlesden Town Centre

 

The London Mayor's Office has launched a short investigation (one month) on the issue of autonomous vehicles in London. These have been in the news recently with a demonstration in Harlesden over Waymo vehicles supported by Brent Green Party, the App Drivers and Couriers Union and Pull the Plug.

 The campaign is being spearheaded by Councillor Amandine Alexandre, who represents Harlesden, alongside Councillor Suzanne Gallagher, who represents Kilburn. 

They were joined byby Councillor Stephen Malonga from Kilburn and Ahmed Ahmed, who recently stood for election in Harlesden.
 

The campaign is growing rapidly across the capital. From safety incidents to the massive threat that unregulated corporate automation poses to the livelihoods of London’s 105,000 private hire drivers, they are  refusing to accept a tech first, people last experiment.

They are demanding that the Mayor of London puts a pause on the rollout until transparent safety standards and strict protections for workers are guaranteed.

SIGN THE PETITION 'SAY NO TO WAYMO' HERE

 

THE MAYOR'S INVESTIGATION

 

Investigation aims and objectives (Terms of Reference)

Several trials of autonomous passenger vehicles (more commonly known as driverless taxis or robotaxis) are underway in London in 2026, with operators aiming to launch commercial services by the end of the year. In this investigation, the Committee will: 

• Explore whether and how autonomous passenger vehicles could be licenced for commercial operations in London, and what role the Mayor and TfL should play in this.
• Understand the impact of autonomous passenger vehicles, particularly in regard to employment in the taxi and wider private hire vehicle sectors, interactions with other road users and the ambitions in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, including ‘Vision Zero’, a traffic reduction of between 10 to 15 per cent, and the target for 80 per cent of all trips to be made by active modes or public transport.

Key issues

• In June 2025, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that it would fast-track “small scale ‘taxi- and bus-like’ services without a safety driver” to take place in spring 2026 before a wider potential roll out in 2027. Several companies, including Uber and UK company Wayve, are seeking to obtain regulatory approval to transport passengers in automated vehicles in London as soon as this year.
• Waymo, an Alphabet-owned company, which is also seeking approval for passenger trials, began testing on London roads without passengers and with a driver at the wheel this year. Its current fleet comprises 24 vehicles. Other operators have not confirmed how many vehicles they are planning to deploy.
• Autonomous passenger vehicles are a common sight in some US cities. Waymo has reported that it is currently providing approximately 500,000 paid rides every week, using over 3,000 vehicles deployed across ten US cities. The company’s average weekly trips have grown tenfold over the last two years. Estimates from 2025 suggest that Waymo accounts for around one in four ride-hailing trips in San Francisco, surpassing the market share of Uber and Lyft.
• Research carried out by automotive data firm HPI found that while Londoners were the most trusting of self-driving technology of respondents from all UK regions, its survey of over 2,000 UK adults found that 79 per cent of Londoners would not trust a driverless car or feel comfortable about travelling in one, while only 21 per cent of Londoners would. The results also showed that 35 per cent of all those surveyed had concerns about the reliability of the technology.
• Some experts have also raised concerns around entrusting key elements of London’s transport system to private companies, resulting ‘proprietary lock-in’, whereby transport in a city could become overly dependent on (in some cases foreign) private companies. The Government in 2022 found that CAVs are attractive targets for cyber attacks and that ensuring cyber security is essential when developing them. There is a risk of terrorist attacks causing large-scale chaos across the transport network and cyber attacks targeting a vehicle’s hardware with the aim of disabling it until a ransom is paid.

Key questions

• Who is responsible for licensing autonomous passenger vehicles in London and what role do the Mayor and TfL play in this?
• How close are commercial operators to deploying autonomous passenger vehicles for hire in London?
• Are autonomous passenger vehicles compatible with London’s strategic transport goals in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy?
• What are the principal risks associated with autonomous passenger vehicles in London, and can they be mitigated?
• To what extent are autonomous passenger vehicles accessible to all Londoners?
• Are there any benefits that autonomous passenger vehicles could offer in London, and how likely are those benefits to be realised in London?
• What lessons can London learn from trials and deployments elsewhere?
• What role should TfL and the Mayor play in the development and oversight of autonomous passenger vehicles?
• What do Londoners think about autonomous passenger vehicles?

1. Call for Evidence

As part of this investigation, the Committee has launched a Call for Evidence, inviting those with knowledge of this topic to respond. 

If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, in a professional capacity, or have knowledge of this topic, please send your submissions to scrutiny@london.gov.uk. Please use ‘Transport Committee call for evidence’ as the subject title.

The deadline for submission is 26 June 2026.

Londoners mobilise against robotaxis as 150,000 private hire drivers fear for their jobs - Harlesden demonstration Friday afternoon

 A Waymo news report from the USA

One month after an incident in Harlesden, the mobilisation against Autonomous Vehicles is growing across the capital.

 

On Friday 22 May, a collective of concerned residents and workers will gather on Harlesden High Street by the Jubilee Clock at 5pm to mark a new stage in the campaign SAY NO TO WAYMO launched less than a month ago by two local mums, who became Green Party councillors on May 7th.

 

Members of ADCU (App Drivers and Couriers Union), campaigners of Pull the Plug - a movement to give ordinary people a say on how AI is tested and implemented.  Harlesden residents will gather to make their voices heard and say No to WAYMO.

 

WAYMO, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc - Google’s parent company, has been testing its robotaxis in the north west London neighbourhood of Harlesden and Stonebridge since the opening of its operations hub in Park Royal in April - and the presence of the oversized cars hasn’t gone unnoticed, particularly since April 22nd. On that day, a WAYMO AV breached a police line on Harlesden High Street. The incident was filmed by a bystander and went viral on social media, alerting thousands of Londoners to the presence of robotaxis in the capital.

 

In media reports, WAYMO claimed that the car was operating in manual mode “with a validation driver in full control” but the Harlesden incident - which has been classified as an AI incident by the OECD- was enough for Amandine Alexandre and Suzanne Gallagher, then Green Party candidates for the local elections, to do some research. They promptly decided to start a petition asking the Mayor of London to put the WAYMO’s trial on pause and, since then, have been on a mission to inform fellow Londoners about the risks entailed by the rollout of AV’s on our streets..

 

Amandine Alexandre, Green Party Councillor in Harlesden and Kensal Green, said:

 

The more we learn about those AI-powered vehicles and the more we are convinced that Londoners have nothing to gain from the introduction of robotaxis. Those oversized vehicles are clogging up our roads, collecting tons of energy consuming data and taking us one step closer to a future where human interactions become the exception rather than a rule.

 

For London’s estimated 150 000 private hire drivers, WAYMO is also a threat to their livelihoods as the AV company said earlier this year that they were aiming at launching a fully commercial service in London in September. “The fear of losing their income is a constant and growing worry at the back of drivers’ minds”, the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) said.

 

Cristina-Georgiana Ionitescu, General Secretary of the ADCU, added:

 

London cannot afford a tech-first, people-last experiment. Any move toward automation must start with rigorous, transparent safety standards, real-world environmental safeguards that reduce total vehicle miles, and protections against oversupply. Most importantly, there must be a just transition for drivers. That means legally enforceable job security, funded retraining, income guarantees during changeover, and a seat at the table for worker-led unions. Our message is simple: no rollout without public consent. And no future that leaves drivers behind.

 

Suzanne Gallagher, Green Party Councillor for Kilburn, concluded: 

 

We are not against innovation that improves our lives and our communities, but we are fiercely opposed to our city being used as a testing ground for Silicon Valley experiments. Earlier this year, New York paused WAYMO's permits and halted further driverless trials. It is time for Mayor Sadiq Khan to follow the lead of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and prioritise Londoners’ jobs and public safety over Big Tech’s extractive business model.

 

Petition on 38 degrees :

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/harlesden-says-no-to-waymo

WAYMO: Is this the way to go, Mo? Petition launched reflecting concerns over experimental 'robo-taxis' in Harlesden

 

Cllr Krupa Sheth and Cllr Muhammed Butt pose at Waymo's Park Royal HQ

An incident in Harlesden when an experimental autonomous vehicle drove through a police crime scene accidentally revealed a scheme that has been foisted on Brent with little or no consultation with residents raising fears of another Lime Bikes type debacle.

Brent Council was clearly very pleased with itself according to a public relations post:

 

Brent Council wrote, 'We know that new technology brings new questions as well as new possibilities, which is why early engagement matters.' 

 The robo-car drives through the crime scene

 

Now Green Party council candidate, Amandine Alexandre, has launched a new petition addressed to the London Mayor raising pertinent concerns.

Harlesden says no to Waymo LINK

We petition the Mayor of London to:

• Implement an immediate moratorium on the expansion of the Waymo pilot until a transparent safety audit is completed.

 

• Publish a full log of all safety breaches, "near misses", and traffic violations involving autonomous vehicles in London to date.

Why is this important?

Over the last few weeks, American company WAYMO has been testing autonomous vehicles in Harlesden and across London. On 22 April, a WAYMO vehicle drove through a live police cordon on Harlesden High Street while officers were investigating a double stabbing.


We, the undersigned, call on the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) to immediately suspend the trial and roll out of Waymo autonomous vehicles on London’s streets. We further request a police investigation into near misses and other incidents where public safety was at risk. 

REASONS FOR THIS PETITION

The current rollout of Waymo autonomous vehicles (AVs) across London, and specifically within the Harlesden area, is proceeding without adequate democratic oversight or proven safety protocols for complex urban environments. Our concerns are based on the following:

1. Breach of Police Cordons: Footage has emerged of a Waymo vehicle in Harlesden breaching a live police line. Such actions constitute "wilful obstruction" of the police. If a driver of a regular vehicle had committed this act, they would likely be under investigation and could face criminal prosecution. We cannot allow a "two-tier" justice system where corporate AI is exempt from the laws that govern Londoners.

2. Unresolved Safety Risks: Autonomous vehicles are struggling to navigate the "edge cases" of London’s busy streets, including responding to emergency sirens, physical police barriers, and the unpredictable movements of pedestrians and cyclists in high-density areas like Harlesden.

3. Lack of Community Consent: Residents in Brent have not been adequately consulted on this trial. Public streets are being treated as a laboratory for unproven technology without a clear framework for liability when things go wrong.

4. Extra traffic on our roads: if Waymo or any other autonomous vehicles are allowed on the streets of London, that will lead to extra traffic on our roads. It will further compromise the Mayor of London's traffic reduction aims, led by Sadiq Khan, focus on reducing overall traffic volumes by 10-15% by 2041 and cutting car kilometres by 27% by 2030 to meet Net Zero and health targets. We need more accessible and affordable public transport, instead of more cars on our roads.

5. Vision Zero Compromise : The Mayor’s "Vision Zero" strategy aims to eliminate road danger. Introducing vehicles that fail to recognise and respect police cordons is a direct contradiction of this safety goal.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

 

 Sky News reported on April 14th 2026: 

Autonomous taxis are now driving themselves around London streets, the American company behind the technology has announced.

The self-driving cars have been in the capital since last autumn, but until now, they were under the manual control of "safety drivers".

Now, Waymo says, they’re being controlled by artificial intelligence, albeit with a human sitting in the driver’s seat just in case.

 

With concerns increasing over the the loss of jobs to   artifical intelligence, such as that used in robo-taxis, it is ironic that Labour Brent is promoting a project that will threaten  the jobs of local taxi, minicab and Uber drivers.

 

Published and promoted by James Paton on behlf of Brent Green Party and its 2026 council candidates c/o 23 Saltcroft Close, Wembley, HA9 9JJ