Healdsburg’s efforts to self-manage its housing, utilities and transportation laws have limits. The announcement last week that the DMV approved expansion of Waymo’s authorized service area for autonomous vehicle operations into large areas north of San Francisco, including the counties of Sonoma, Marin and Napa, and cities including Healdsburg, proved as much.
The announcement came not from Waymo, the driverless car pioneer, but from the DMV itself. As the DMV stated, “This amendment to Waymo’s existing deployment and driverless testing permits allows the company to operate in new regions of both Southern and Northern California.”
That statement continues, “In Northern California, the service area now includes the broader Bay Area and Sacramento.”
Maps and a list of jurisdictions included in the newly-approved area are available on the DMV website, and yes, it includes Healdsburg. But while city officials in Healdsburg say they were not warned of the DMV expansion, they doubt they have much leverage anyway. “At this time, we have not been contacted by Waymo and we don’t have any information on the likelihood or timing of a deployment in Healdsburg,” said City Manager Jeff Kay.
Kay went on to explain, “In short, we think that the City’s ability to regulate this type of service will be limited, at best.” The reason being that Waymo’s ability to test and operate is governed by the DMV, and the ability to charge for service is governed by the California PUC. “Local zoning regulations do not apply to public rights of way,” Kay added.
The comparison of taxi services and more modern transportation alternatives such as Uber and Lyft reveals that, while at one point cities had more leverage with the issuance of permits, the California Public Utilities Commission “now regulates these services and their rules generally preempt local controls.”
What about a business license? In general businesses do need to file with the city for a license to operate in city limits and Waymo might, as well. “But that is not a discretionary approval that we can issue or deny based on policy objectives,” Kay said. “We’ve been looking into it, but it’s obviously a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.”
In other words, those driverless taxis that caused at first astonishment on the streets of San Francisco—and more recently outrage, as when a Waymo ran over and killed a well-known “bodega cat” on 16th Street without so much as a “poor baby”—are on their way.
The specific timing of Waymos operating in Healdsburg is very much up in the air. The DMV permission is for “deployment and testing,” not commercial operation. Yet.
