On Monday, June 2, Claire Stanley, the Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs for ACB, attended a budget oversight hearing for the District of Columbia’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment. The City Council’s committee is discussing the 2026 budget. ACB and other blind advocacy groups previously spoke at a Council hearing to talk about the potential opportunities that can come from the introduction of autonomous vehicles in the District and other cities across the country. Claire attended this meeting to further emphasize this point; statements made by the District have included promises to introduce autonomous vehicles (AV) onto the streets of Washington, D.C. sometime in 2026.
The hearing was open to the public and allowed anyone to sign up to make statements. Both Claire and a representative of the National Federation of the Blind talked about the many opportunities that will arise if AVs are available for blind and low vision travelers. Both witnesses gave testimony of their experiences as blind users who have taken rides in a Waymo AV in Phoenix, Arizona.
Claire talked about the numerous benefits that will be available to blind and low vision travelers if they have access to AVs. She talked about the elimination of rideshare denials for guide dog users. She talked about the benefit of an additional transportation option when public transportation is unavailable, or when paratransit services are limited or flawed. ACB will continue to advocate for the introduction of greater access to AVs.
Posted on June 2nd, 2025