Search Engine The Trial of the Driverless Car
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Mar 26, 2026 
Carl Richardson, disability advocate and ADA coordinator, and Julia Mejia, Boston city councilor and labor ally, collide in Boston’s fierce fight over driverless cars. Unions rally against automation and job loss. Disability activists push for freedom and access. City hearings turn messy, with strange alliances, political suspicion, and a battle over who gets left behind.
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Abdi Aziz Saw Uber Was Here To Kill Taxis
- Abdi Aziz instantly recognized Uber's airport recruiting pitch as a threat to Boston's medallion taxi system, not help for drivers.
- He told fellow cabbies, "we cannot stop Uber," then joined early because he saw the monopoly protections collapsing.
Algorithmic Pay Turned Flexibility Into Leverage
- After Uber and Lyft gained leverage, drivers believed algorithmic pay let the apps quietly take more while hiding the exact cut.
- PJ Vogt says drivers saw a bait-and-switch because many had car loans and couldn't simply quit when rates fell.
Waymo Looks Different Depending On Who Tells It
- The Waymo fight changes depending on where you start the story: engineers see safety progress, while drivers see another tech company erasing livelihoods.
- PJ Vogt notes Austin and Phoenix welcomed Waymo, but blue cities like Boston framed it mainly as a jobs battle.