Thousands of Minneapolis families—especially from our East African immigrant community—depend on ride-share driving to make ends meet. Now, that livelihood is under direct threat.

Waymo, a multibillion-dollar company owned by Alphabet (Google’s parent company), has begun testing autonomous vehicles on our city streets with the goal of launching a driverless ride-hailing service. If allowed to operate unchecked, this technology could eliminate thousands of local driving jobs—displacing workers who already face economic hardship and systemic barriers to opportunity.

Council Member Jamal Osman, whose Ward 6 includes many East African drivers, has raised the alarm. So have Council President Elliott Payne, Vice President Aisha Chughtai, and Council Member Robin Wonsley. But local leadership alone isn’t enough. We need action at the highest levels.

We’re calling on Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz to take immediate steps to protect working families from being replaced by driverless technology:

• Halt any commercial deployment of autonomous ride-hailing services until public hearings are held and impact studies are completed.
• Champion strong protections for current ride-share drivers, including job guarantees, retraining opportunities, and safety nets.
• Put community voices—not corporate profits—at the center of decisions about our transportation future.

We’ve seen what happens when big tech enters a city without proper oversight. A decade ago, Minneapolis scrambled to regulate Uber and Lyft after the damage was already done. We can’t afford to make the same mistake twice.

Sign this petition to demand that our leaders stand with workers, not corporations. The future of transportation should include everyone—not leave thousands behind.

Photo: Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press