Robotaxi Firms Withhold How Often Humans Intervene; Senator Demands Answers

Sen. Ed Markey’s inquiry into seven companies developing self-driving vehicles found none would disclose how frequently their cars summon off-site human support, according to a report released Tuesday. The probe — launched after a Senate hearing on autonomous vehicles — asked firms including Aurora, May Mobility, Motional, Nuro, Tesla, Waymo and Zoox for details about the size, location and practices of their remote support teams; most declined to provide key figures, the senator’s office said.

The letters sent in February contained 14 questions aimed at clarifying how often human agents guide a vehicle, where those workers sit, what training they hold and what safeguards are in place. In response, replies ranged from partial to stonewalled. No company offered a straightforward tally of how many times operators intervene. Two firms described that information as proprietary, one omitted the question entirely, and others provided vague assertions that system upgrades have cut assistance requests without backing that claim with specific data.

Regulators and city officials have sharpened their focus as more companies move from testing into paid services and commercial freight. The senator’s report says one operator reported worst-case communication delays measured in half-seconds, and several companies outlined protocols intended to limit fatigue among off-site staff and to protect trip data. But those procedures differ widely, and federal rules governing these remote interventions do not yet exist, Markey’s office noted as it urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to probe the practices and said it is drafting legislation to set stricter limits.

Most of the firms stated that their remote teams do not directly steer vehicles, with Tesla as a notable exception. Tesla told the senator’s staff that its remote personnel may take temporary, physical control only as a last-resort maneuver when a vehicle is nearly stationary — limited, the company said, to situations below about 2 miles per hour and with a cap of roughly 10 miles per hour if control is transferred. Waymo disclosed that a substantial share of its support personnel are based abroad — roughly one-half in the Philippines — and the senator’s team cautioned that foreign driver credentials are no substitute for passing U.S. licensing exams.

Company spokespeople were split on commenting publicly: Waymo and Nuro declined; Aurora and May Mobility said they cooperated with the inquiry; others didn’t reply to requests. An independent transportation analyst observing the responses said the lack of concrete numbers leaves riders and municipalities unable to assess safety trade-offs. "When firms won’t say how often a human has to step in, it’s hard to judge how reliable the automated system really is," the analyst said.

Markey’s document also pulled together other operational details that could matter for oversight: reported latencies, staffing practices meant to reduce human error, and cybersecurity measures. As deployments expand, more watchdogs and local officials are expected to press companies for transparency, and lawmakers may move to codify what kinds of off-site interventions are acceptable — or barred — on public roads.