Posted on the 16th October 2026 in PHTM News

LONDON PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS DISRUPT TFL GALA IN PROTEST AGAINST DRIVERLESS CARS

Private hire drivers staged a lively protest outside Transport for London's annual Transport Dinner at the Guildhall in the City of London on 15 October, demanding that Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL Commissioner Andy Lord put an immediate stop to the rollout of driverless cars.

Members of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) disrupted the black-tie event to voice deep concerns over the existential threat autonomous vehicles pose to their jobs, livelihoods and families, backed by fellow workers from other sectors facing automation, including food delivery riders.

Protesters chanted "every car feeds a family" and "stop driverless cars" as guests arrived, while handing out leaflets to attendees and passers-by detailing their demands.

The demonstration coincided with the release of a London Assembly Transport Committee report titled 'Who’s Driving the Future of Autonomous Transport?'. The report warned that driverless vehicles produced by tech firms like Waymo could trigger 100,000 job losses in London, whilst raising severe doubts about retraining opportunities for affected workers.

It further cautioned that autonomous transport would undermine the Mayor’s Transport Strategy targets, worsening road congestion in Europe's most congested city and running counter to goals for car use reduction, road safety and increased public transport usage.

Union representatives accused authorities of privatising public transport to enrich multi-billion-pound corporations at the expense of ordinary workers. They urged TfL to follow the lead of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani by using existing powers to halt the technology.

Uber driver and IWGB Private Hire Drivers Vice Chair Gholomreza 'Rez' Kamyabi said: "We took action today against Sadiq Khan because he needed to come face-to-face with just a few of the 100,000 people whose lives will be torn apart by the unleashing of driverless cars in London, which will benefit no one but tech bro billionaires. These glitzy parties are a world away from the fear and anxiety drivers are filled with."

IWGB President Alex Marshall echoed these concerns, stating that drivers were left with no choice but to crash the event after being repeatedly ignored. 


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