Chamber of Progress cites a 2025 poll showing San Francisco support for robotaxis rose from 44 to 67 percent, arguing other cities are deciding at peak fear
SF voters on robotaxis: Sept 2023: 44% support, 51% oppose July 2025: 67% support, 29% oppose What changed? People rode them. Robotaxi opposition peaks before anyone has ridden. D.C., New York and Massachusetts are deciding at peak fear and minimum experience.
Context
As Washington, New York and Massachusetts weigh robotaxi rules, how public opinion changes after people ride them could decide where companies like Waymo and Tesla can operate.
This is an advocacy post from Chamber of Progress, a tech industry policy group, using resurfaced poll data from July 2025. Elon Musk reposted it.
Deep dive
On October 19, Chamber of Progress posted that San Francisco voters supported robotaxis 44 to 51 percent in September 2023, and 67 to 29 percent in July 2025. What changed? People rode them, it wrote, arguing that robotaxi opposition peaks before anyone has ridden, and that D.C., New York and Massachusetts are deciding at peak fear and minimum experience. Elon Musk reposted it overnight.
The attached chart credits GrowSF and FM3 Research. Its notes say the July 2025 wave surveyed 802 San Francisco voters from July 10 to 20, 2025, by phone and online in English and Chinese, with a margin of error of 3.5 points, and that the September 2023 baseline was reported without published field dates or sample size. The chart also shows strong support rising from 19 to 38 percent and strong opposition falling from 35 to 16 percent.
The poll is more than a year old and covers one city, and the claim that riding caused the shift is the group's interpretation rather than something the poll measured. GrowSF is a San Francisco political group that has published the results on its own site.
What to expect next
Watch decisions in Washington, New York and Massachusetts on whether to allow driverless passenger service, which the group is trying to influence. Newer polling in San Francisco or in cities where robotaxis recently launched would show whether the pattern holds. Also watch whether Tesla's robotaxi plans and Waymo's expansion face less resistance where people have ridden them, and whether opponents publish polling that tells a different story.