Every single time Democrats raise the minimum wage, companies respond by moving to automation — kiosks for ordering at McDonald's, self-checkouts at the grocery store, and robots for stocking shelves and doing inventory. The insane rules governing things like taxis and rideshare services also encouraged companies to create driverless taxis like Waymo.
But the Left has found a way to kill that industry, too: mandating human "safety operators" to "protect jobs." That's what Portland is proposing, which means robotaxis will either be really expensive or leave the city altogether.
JUST IN: Portland considers requiring a paid human “safety operator” inside every driverless robotaxi to protect jobs.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) October 13, 2026
Portland City Councilors are beginning to look at what guardrails they want in place for automated robotaxis like Waymo before the technology goes online.
The City Council's public works committee will hear from the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) about potential rules for the automated vehicles on Tuesday.
PBOT is proposing limits on how quickly the technology could expand, including a 75-vehicle cap per company and a citywide cap of 225 driverless taxis in the first year.
Before a company could offer paid rides, it would need to log 50,000 miles on Portland streets with a city testing permit, including at least 25,000 miles with a human driver in the vehicle and 25,000 miles without one.
Nothing kills innovation faster than Democrat bureaucracy.
That's like demanding people travel by horse and buggy after cars came along. It also won't create any jobs because it'll just mean Portland is trapped in the technological past while the rest of the world advances.
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) October 13, 2026
Progressives were also upset that the lightbulb meant street lamp lighters would lose their jobs, too.
You get innovation and technology or you get stagnation. So-called "progressives" always choose stagnation.
It’s going to be funny watching these once prominent cities ruin themselves through taxes and stupid policies and shift population/wealth to formerly smaller cities, and then they just die like Detroit.
— J-Dub©️ (@DeLoachJW) October 13, 2026
The sad part is the people who destroy these cities will then move on to other cities, keep voting for these same policies, and ruin those small cities, too. Just like the locusts they are.
“Portland considers requiring a paid human elevator operator inside every elevator to protect jobs.” https://t.co/ClbWOE4eSP
— Ben Grossman (@ben_grossman) October 13, 2026
It's the same mentality.
The human has to sit there for 8 hours not driving.
— Bunagaya (@Bunagayafrost) October 13, 2026
The passengers lose their private space and feel awkward.
The robotaxi has to take breaks for the human.
Just torturous all around. https://t.co/A37jcgeMSU
The suffering is the point.
The unions strike again. You know unions often have a second union member required just to observe the job of the first union member? It's just a way to double dip and get paid. Hashtag just cartel things. https://t.co/fbSxple9R1
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) October 13, 2026
And the consumers pay the price. Tell us more about "affordability," Democrats.