Earlier this week, Tesla unveiled a small fleet of robotaxis in Austin, marking the first time the EV powerhouse’s driverless vehicles transported paying passengers. For now, Elon Musk’s company is charging a flat fee under $5 for rides.

We can’t imagine this price tag will stick around forever, but it establishes a competitively low fare that’s likely to help Austin folk overcome any nervousness about trusting their lives to computers, changing the way people get around in that cool city.

We remember when Uber came to Chicago over a decade ago, disrupting our taxi industry with similar low prices coupled with the new convenience of a ride at the touch of a button. It changed everything, mostly at the expense of the taxi companies and drivers that had served Chicago for decades.

Chicago lost the vast majority of its cabs. Even downtown, they remain difficult to hail now, even as they have returned in greater numbers to New York.

And as anyone who regularly takes an Uber well knows, the prices went up once the cabs were vanquished. A lot. Taxi prices, a source of complaint for generations of Chicagoans, now often look like a bargain in comparison to Uber or Lyft, especially when it rains or there’s a ballgame in the neighborhood. As Big Tech’s variable pricing ravages our wallets, regulated rates have never looked better to many of us.

With ride-share prices rising, policymakers are now weighing how best to support drivers — but those efforts, including unionization, could unintentionally make things worse for both riders and drivers as driverless technology gains traction.

Uber agreed earlier this month not to fight statewide legislation that would grant drivers collective bargaining rights while maintaining their status as independent contractors, which the Illinois Drivers Alliance has said it plans to file in Springfield. This deal was struck as the city was poised to vote on an ordinance to raise driver pay, a move that’s now off the table as part of the terms.

It’s a relief for ride-share companies — the driver pay ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Michael Rodríguez, 22nd, would’ve established a $7 minimum driver payout for each trip and increased drivers’ pay during trips to $1.50 per mile. Ride-share lobbyists told aldermen this change would’ve driven up ride costs by over 50%. Which is the last thing we need.

The labor-peace deal gives ride-share companies breathing room as the labor bill must first materialize and pass.

Here’s the issue for drivers.

Labor talks are playing out as Uber and its competitors are investing heavily in driverless vehicles, just like Tesla. On Tuesday, Uber followed Tesla’s lead by launching a new feature — in Atlanta, Uber users can now hail a Waymo robotaxi to get around town. How long before that happens in Chicago? It’s always been a goal of these ride-share companies to make drivers obsolete.

Uber isn’t hiding that future. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi even told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year he expects AVs to gradually overtake human drivers.

“I think the human displacement here, while it’s not something that is going to happen tomorrow, is going to happen eventually,” he said. “And it’s something we have to think about, society has to think about.” In Austin and Atlanta, they are doing more than thinking about it. They are riding driverless right now.

Big tech firms envision a world where they don’t need human drivers at all. That vision is already shaping their investment decisions. And therein lies the rub.

The more costly and complicated labor becomes for ride-share companies, the more eager these firms will be to reduce their reliance on human drivers altogether. Unionization cannot help but end up accelerating AV implementation.

We concede that AVs are not a bad thing — along with Austin and Atlanta, in cities such as San Francisco, riders are able to choose robotaxis, and services such as Waymo are popular, even if they creep some of us out.

We also understand the argument in favor of more support for ride-share drivers. Many gig workers lack benefits such as health insurance and paid leave. And it’s not as if Illinois is alone on this initiative. In Massachusetts, ride-share drivers secured collective bargaining rights through a statewide ballot initiative last year, while retaining their status as independent contractors, just as they would under the Illinois proposal. And in California, state legislation emerged this spring that would allow drivers to unionize. It hasn’t passed yet, but there’s still time.

As for the drivers themselves, many enjoy having control over their schedule. Most gig workers juggle multiple gigs and like the flexibility. More than 60% of drivers work across multiple platforms, and nearly a third drive for three or more, according to a 2024 business.com survey. It’s far from the usual model of employers and unions, and that has been one of its strengths for many stakeholders. Not every Uber driver wants to be treated like a regular worker; autonomy is a big part of the appeal. In essence, Uber drivers own their own small business.

Whatever happens, Chicago needs a thriving and affordable ride-share sector — ride-share is part of our transit ecosystem. A bus or a train often can only get you so far, making car service an essential component of that last short leg of the trip, especially for the elderly or for those commuting in broiling heat.

This board believes this city treated Chicago’s taxi drivers poorly. City Hall was quick to embrace shiny new ride-shares, leaving cab drivers, many of whom were recent immigrants, holding thousands of dollars in debt for medallions that lost the bulk of their value. We imagine those drivers don’t have much patience for anyone crying about the cost of ride-shares as Big Tech completes the bait and switch and extracts its price.

Chicagoans need effective, affordable ways to get around town. Ride-share drivers deserve not to be exploited. But while unionization may raise pay in the short term, it risks accelerating automation and eliminating the jobs it was meant to protect.

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