Self-driving taxi trials in London have sharpened warnings about jobs in the taxi and rideshare trade, including in Australia.
Wayve began supervised autonomous rides through Uber’s app in London on 3 September 2026 with a small fleet of electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es and a TfL-licensed safety driver still on board. Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go are also running London pilots.
Scale of the trade
Coverage cites roughly 15,000 London black-cab drivers and about 105,000 private-hire drivers. Licensed London taxis had already fallen from about 22,200 in 2013 to around 15,100 a decade later as passengers moved to apps.
News.com.au has separately reported that around 210,000 people work in Australian taxi, limousine and rideshare services, warning those roles could face pressure if Waymo and other robotaxi firms expand there after right-hand-drive testing in markets such as London and Tokyo.
LTDA general secretary Steve McNamara has called autonomy a solution looking for a problem in congested London streets. Operators say safety drivers will eventually come out once regulators allow it. No London robotaxi fare table has been published yet.