Portland is writing its robotaxi rulebook before any driverless car has a permit to test on city streets. In a briefing deck prepared for the City Council’s Public Works Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) laid out fleet caps, a 50,000-mile local testing requirement, and a permit-suspension trigger tied to traffic violations.
Tuesday’s session was a discussion, not a vote, KATU reported ahead of the meeting. PBOT’s deck says the committee is set to take up an ordinance amending Portland City Code Title 16.40 on Oct. 27.
Caps and test miles
Under the proposal, an AV company holding a city testing permit could run up to 15 vehicles. A company that graduates to a for-hire AV permit could run up to 75 vehicles in year one, with a citywide ceiling of 225 for-hire AVs in that first program year. The City Administrator would set both caps, review impacts on traffic safety, labor, and the transportation system each year, and change the caps only through public rulemaking.
Before applying for a for-hire permit, a company would have to log 50,000 miles on Portland streets under a testing permit: at least 25,000 miles with a licensed human driver in the vehicle and at least 25,000 more with no human driver needed.
Two violations and the fleet stops
The draft treats the automated driving system as an “AV driver” held to the same safety standards as human private for-hire drivers. If that AV driver gets two traffic violations, or violates the expectation of operating in a safe manner, the permit for the entire fleet controlled by that “driver” would be suspended. It could become active again once the company certifies the problems are resolved, and continued violations could bring fines or revocation.
Other requirements in the package include:
- A First Responder Interaction Plan, plus outreach and training events for first responders.
- Compliance with NHTSA requirements and an annual vehicle safety certification.
- A city-approved map of the service area, along with city-issued geofences and pick-up/drop-off zones.
- A fleet that is fully battery electric, registered in Oregon, and enrolled in Oregon’s OreGO program.
- Crash reports shared with ODOT and the city, and trip data shared with the city.
- The same per-trip and permit fees as Uber- and Lyft-style transportation network companies, including the accessibility fee, plus a new per-trip driver support fee for workers affected by automation.
- Remote operators who hold a U.S.-based driver’s license appropriate for the vehicle.
- A ban on selling data, written city approval before data is shared or transferred, and a judge-signed warrant before data goes to another government agency.
Waymo is already mapping
On its automated vehicles page, PBOT says it is aware of two companies mapping Portland streets: Waymo, whose Zeekr-built Ojai vehicles are being driven by licensed human drivers, and General Motors, which is mapping for Super Cruise. Mapping with the automated system disengaged does not require a city permit. The city says some companies have expressed interest in its AV testing permit, but none has been issued, and for-hire AVs are not allowed under the current 2018 rule.
Tesla does not appear in PBOT’s deck or on the bureau’s AV page.
Drivers push back
Nathaniel Hudson-Hartman, an organizer with Driver’s Union Oregon, told KATU the group wants driverless taxis kept out of Portland. “Oregonians didn’t ask for robo-taxis. Uber, Lyft and Waymo did,” he said. If the city allows them, he wants a licensed Uber, Lyft, or taxi driver on board every vehicle at all times.
KATU reported councilors appear divided. Councilor Mitch Green said he has “the appetite” to pursue a ban, while Public Works Committee Chair Olivia Clark said she does not support a ban or a human-driver requirement, and wants local rules in place before state lawmakers potentially preempt them.
That preemption fight runs through PBOT’s pitch. The deck says a state bill to enable AVs and preempt cities did not move forward in 2026, that an industry-sponsored bill is likely in the 2027 session, and that every city with a current for-hire AV deployment has been preempted by state law. It also says no U.S. city currently regulates a for-hire AV fleet, and counts for-hire AVs operating in 15 cities nationally.
PBOT says it received more than 220 comments on its draft rule update this spring: 52 percent concerned safety and 34 percent raised labor impacts on taxi and rideshare drivers.
Photo: Portland City Hall by Another Believer via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.
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