As autonomous ride-hailing expands across the U.S. with Tela’s Robotaxi service and Alphabet’s Waymo, traditional gig platforms are working to protect their turf. Rather than focusing solely on vehicle development, legacy ride-hailing networks are turning toward legislative channels to keep driverless fleets tied to their existing apps. According to a report from the Financial Times, Uber has been actively lobbying state and federal policymakers to enforce mandatory hybrid networks, where human drivers and autonomous vehicles operate on the same platform. The Push for 85% Human Drivers in New Jersey In New Jersey, state lawmakers are evaluating a three-year pilot program designed to establish an official regulatory framework for testing and deploying driverless vehicles. However, Uber lobbyists are proposing a major add-on to the legislation: requiring any platform offering robotaxi services to have human drivers handle at least 85% of all rides during the pilot program. If adopted, this rule would force companies like Tesla and Waymo that already have dedicated autonomous rideshare apps to route their rides through Uber and similar third-party platforms that maintain large human driver pools. For Tesla, this proposal comes on top of existing hurdles in the legislation that would essentially ban its Robotaxi vehicles from New Jersey unless it adds more sensors to them. In its current form, the draft requires commercial driverless vehicles to be equipped with at least two distinct sensor modalities (like LiDAR and radar) alongside cameras, effectively ruling out Tesla’s camera-only. Beyond sensor demands, the bill requires operators to: - Complete 50,000 miles of supervised in-state testing with a human safety driver. - Submit complete safety certifications, proof of insurance, and law enforcement interaction plans. - Report all vehicle collisions directly to the New Jersey Department of Transportation within five days. Tacking on a requirement to operate exclusively on a hybrid