A thinktank, the Centre for British Progress, has urged the UK government to introduce taxes on self-driving cars now, warning that widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles (AVs) could threaten hundreds of thousands of private hire jobs and worsen road congestion. The call comes just weeks after the first robotaxis began operating on London's streets, with ministers projecting that up to 40% of new cars sold could have self-driving capability by the mid-2030s. The report argues that acting early, before a large constituency of AV owners emerges to resist charges, would ease the transition and create a new revenue stream to replace fuel duty, which is expected to decline as electric vehicles become more common.

The thinktank estimates a charge of around 88p per mile, matching the social cost of congestion, could raise £47bn annually by 2050, helping offset the roughly £27bn a year currently generated by fuel duty. It highlights risks to England's 417,000 taxi and private hire drivers, including 121,000 in London, and notes that nearly half the mileage driven by Waymo's robotaxis in California is with no passenger aboard, since running an empty vehicle costs little without a driver to pay. The Department for Transport forecasts a 24% rise in road miles by 2050 due to automated driving. However, Wayve, the British AV firm partnering with Uber in London, said such a tax would "penalise the UK's most promising innovators" and undermine the government's growth ambitions for the sector.