St. Paul City Council president wants robotaxi rules in place before big tech arrives

Twin Cities News St. Paul City Council president wants robotaxi rules in place before big tech arrives By Aki Nace Aki Nace Digital Producer, CBS Minnesota Aki Nace has been a web producer for CBS Minnesota since 2019. She covers breaking news and makes short-form documentary films. Read Full Bio Aki Nace Updated on: October 12, 2026 / 11:49 AM CDT / CBS Minnesota Add CBS News on Google The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday will consider a resolution that will direct the city to study and develop recommendations for regulating autonomous vehicles. The resolution was authored by Council President Rebecca Noecker, and if adopted, will examine autonomous vehicles and their impacts on workers, public safety, accessibility, data storage and impacts on traffic. The study, which will be spearheaded by the city's planning commission, will include input from transit workers, labor organizations, disability advocates and public safety representatives, among others.The resolution says the city should "establish these standards proactively, before autonomous vehicle companies begin commercial operations in the City."In Minneapolis, City Council members approved an ordinance which would require a human to sit in the driver's seat of a robotaxi with a 7-6 vote. Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the measure, saying that the city "must be open for business, including innovative technology."Noecker told WCCO she was "watching what happened over in Minneapolis.""I think it's really important that as big tech approaches our community that we be proactive about figuring out how we want to regulate it," she said. "Communities that have not had any guardrails in place when big tech shows up, they just roll right over that local community and I don't want that to happen in St. Paul."Waymo, which is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, started operating in Minneapolis last November, in part to test how the driverless taxi performs in heavy snow. The company does not operate in St. Paul.  Minnesota does not have any specific laws regulating autonomous vehicles, though the robotaxis must meet current statutes when operating on public roads."I absolutely support the state taking action on this," Noecker said. "The current statute is vague enough that it really leaves open far too many loopholes and doesn't give the direction that cities need."WCCO has reached out to Waymo for comment on the resolution.  Ashley Grams contributed to this report. In: Autonomous Vehicles St. Paul Featured Local Savings St. Paul sues Maplewood over police firearm training facility Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoes bid to raise threshold for issuing new city debt Minneapolis school officials seek pause on closure plans Minneapolis firefighters hurt battling business fire; Indigenous archive at risk Man shot dead early Sunday in northeast Minneapolis, police say Owners of Colorado tow truck companies indicted for $2.5 million in vehicle thefts Multi-vehicle crash in Denver causes temporary closure of Peña Boulevard Girl fatally hit by vehicle while walking to Modesto HS football game