Driverless vehicle testing has already started in Minnesota, and, for now, it’s under the supervision of humans behind the wheel.
That could change soon.
Autonomous vehicle company Waymo began testing its computer-automated vehicles in Minneapolis in late 2025, but says it will eventually launch passenger service in the Twin Cities, as it did in ten other cities in the southern U.S.
The road to driverless cabs and other vehicles in the state goes through the Legislature — and it could be a long one. Waymo doesn’t plan to launch its service in Minnesota until the state enacts new laws to set up basic regulations.
Waymo bill
A bill sponsored by Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, would do that by giving the Minnesota Department of Transportation power to authorize driverless vehicle companies, spelling out insurance requirements and requiring autonomous vehicles comply with state traffic laws.
Rep. Jon Koznick. R-Lakeville. (Courtesy of Jon Koznick)
Koznick said the bill was a work in progress but that it’d create a “clear and predictable framework” for driverless cars in the state. Though the existing proposal is encountering resistance from Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers and labor groups, who say it doesn’t do enough to protect road safety and jobs. Local rideshare drivers with services like Uber and Lyft have said they’re worried about competition from unmanned cabs.
“This is not about whether the technology will advance or not,” Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL–Apple Valley, said at a news conference calling for caution on automated vehicles. “It’s about how we guide those advancements so people, workers, children and families aren’t casualties in the name of progress.”
Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)
Maye Quade and her House DFL colleague Rep. Samantha Sencer Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, want a driverless vehicle bill that includes a safety advisory board and an economic analysis to understand how the introduction of the new technology will affect workers like rideshare drivers and truckers. Their effort has the backing of labor groups, including the AFL-CIO and SEIU — the Service Employees International Union.
Amid those concerns, the House Transportation Committee heard the bill on Wednesday, where, for now, it remains stalled as lawmakers seek to address them. Koznick’s bill failed to move forward on a party-line vote after multiple DFL-backed amendments seeking to change regulations on autonomous vehicles didn’t pass.
Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, who co-chairs the Transportation Committee with Koznick, said the state needed to weigh the change more carefully.
“I very much believe that there are … good, important future uses for autonomous vehicles,” he said as he called to table the bill for future discussion. “I also believe that before we go in that direction, we have to have an intermediate step, and we have to have a step in there that isn’t just going from 0 to 60.”
Gray areas
Waymo currently operates in a legal gray area in Minnesota. State law neither authorizes nor prohibits the testing of automated vehicles on Minnesota roads. For that reason, the Minnesota Department of Transportation doesn’t have any oversight specific on autonomous vehicles, according to a department spokesperson.
Presently, Waymo operates in 10 metropolitan areas in five states, including the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles in California, Houston and Austin in Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. The Twin Cities is among the more than 20 metros where Waymo has public plans to expand, and would be among the company’s first cold-weather cities.
After a winter of testing, the company is working on “refining the rider experience and logistics required for consistent service in snow,” CEO Dmitri Dolgov said in a social media post on March 3.
In a letter in support of Koznick’s bill, Minnesota Technology Association President Joel Crandall said a new regulatory framework would help the state’s technology sector by showing that new industries can “take root and grow.”
“AVs also stand to benefit employers and workers directly: reliable, modern transportation options provide access, help attract and retain talent, and can give commuters time back in their day,” he wrote.
Safety aspects of autonomous vehicles remain debated, but industry groups claim the technology could reduce road fatalities by removing human error from driving.
Costs, questions
Besides the general convenience or cost-saving potential of eliminating the need for a human driver, driverless vehicles also could prove invaluable for people with disabilities, testifiers told the committee Wednesday.
“Not driving means my wife has to run every errand, not being able to drive means I will never be able to go out on a diaper run, not be able to make that quick trip to the grocery store,” said Cole Davies, a board member with the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. “Access to autonomous vehicles would not just make the lives of people with disabilities much better. It would make the lives of those who care for them easier.”
Despite a general atmosphere of optimism about self-driving vehicles, many groups remain skeptical about the rollout.
Labor groups like the AFL-CIO aren’t the only ones that object to the self-driving car legislation in its current form. Groups representing local governments and the trucking industry also have concerns.
The League of Minnesota Cities, which represents more than 800 local governments, opposed language in the current bill that would prevent local officials from putting restrictions on automated vehicles, such as licensing, permitting and fees.
The Minnesota Trucking Association had concerns about insurance liability on crashes involving automated vehicles and advocated for a “phased-in approach” to introducing the technology on state roads.
To that end, association president John Hausladen advocated for more safety testing and data sharing from automated-vehicle makers — especially data from challenging winter conditions.
“Minnesota is different than Phoenix,” he said. “So we better make sure it works in Detroit Lakes or International Falls.”
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