City Council Paperwork Keeps Waymo Out

Local procedural requirements and delayed agency reports can act as indefinite moratoria on autonomous-vehicle services even when companies claim strong safety records. In Washington, D.C., a required DDOT report is years overdue and recent permit rules mandate a person in the vehicle, blocking Waymo despite industry safety claims and an estimate of lives potentially saved. — Shows how municipal-level bureaucracy and political signaling (not just state or federal policy) can decisively shape the deployment of safety‑critical urban technologies and the distribution of their benefits.