Boston Council Grills Waymo on Jobs, Safety as AV Hearing Opens

BOSTON -- July 24, 2025, Boston City Council opens formal review of Waymo autonomous vehicle plans amid fierce labor opposition. The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by District 8 Councilor Sharon Durkan and co-sponsored by Councilors Edward M. Flynn and Gabriela Coletta Zapata, convened a four-hour hearing Thursday on Docket 1141, the first formal council evaluation of commercial autonomous vehicle operations in the city. Waymo regional policy head Matt Walsh told the panel the company conducted manual mapping drives in Boston neighborhoods this summer but has "no official plans at this time" for a commercial launch, while claiming a safety record of 100 million fully autonomous miles and nearly five times fewer injury-causing collisions than human drivers. Chief of Streets Yasha Franklin-Hodge countered that only an estimated 40 percent of Waymo miles in San Francisco are productive passenger trips and that Boston's narrow, non-grid streets present complexities no AV company has yet proven it can handle at scale. Teamsters Local 25 Secretary-Treasurer Steven South challenged Waymo's job-creation projections, noting the "Chamber of Progress" data cited by Walsh is funded in part by Waymo, Uber, and Google. Councilors Erin J. Murphy and Henry Santana announced plans to file an ordinance requiring a full public impact study and a labor-inclusive advisory board before any autonomous vehicles are permitted on Boston roads.