Actions index
Bills, RIDOT actions, and local items we could verify, plus a short federal and neighbor-state section. Last checked 2026-11-14. Stored as structured data in this repo so it can be updated.
United States (NHTSA) · NHTSA
Allows Zoox to commercially deploy a purpose-built, no-steering-wheel robotaxi that does not meet certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, subject to enhanced oversight. Term is July 31, 2026 through July 31, 2028. NHTSA described a cap of up to 2,500 vehicles per year.
Federal exemption in effect. This is not a Rhode Island operating permit.
Rhode Island General Assembly · Sens. DiPalma, Seveney, Lombardo, Burke, Coyne, and Rogers
Would have set speed limits (12 mph in pedestrian areas, 20 mph elsewhere), registration with DMV, lighting, braking, insurance, and local-regulation rules for personal delivery devices.
Introduced February 15, 2022, and referred to Senate Commerce. No public law was enacted from this bill.
Rhode Island General Assembly · Rep. Patricia A. Serpa
House counterpart on personal delivery devices: automated cargo devices in pedestrian areas with remote human supervision, equipment and registration rules, and local regulations that do not conflict with the chapter.
Introduced February 11, 2022, and referred to House Corporations. No public law was enacted from this bill.
RIDOT · RIDOT
Mixed-methods evaluation: surveys, interviews, field observation, and operations data. Finds improving headways and AV-mode use, infrequent incidents, and generally positive rider and attendant reports, plus serious data-sharing limits that blocked analysis of some technology, performance, and cost metrics.
Final report in the U.S. DOT National Transportation Library.
Rhode Island General Assembly · Sens. DiPalma, Rogers, Coyne, and Paolino
A later Senate bill to authorize and regulate personal delivery devices. Again, sidewalk/road cargo robots with remote supervision, not passenger AVs.
Introduced January 19, 2021, and referred to Senate Commerce. No public law was enacted from this bill.
United States (NHTSA) · NHTSA
Requires manufacturers and operators to report crashes involving automated driving systems and certain driver-assistance systems. The public CSV files are the main federal crash dataset for AVs.
Still the federal crash-reporting requirement. Public files are downloadable from NHTSA.
Rhode Island General Assembly · Sens. DiPalma, Lombardi, Archambault, McKenney, and Coyne
Would have created rules for sidewalk and roadway cargo robots (personal delivery devices) with remote human supervision. Related to automated devices, not passenger robotaxis.
Introduced March 12, 2020, and referred to Senate Commerce. No public law was enacted from this bill.
RIDOT · RIDOT
The official RIDOT evaluation’s coverage period ends June 2020. The report notes COVID-19 disruptions, including a transition to non-AV shuttles operated by RIPTA in May 2020, and data-sharing limits with the private operator.
Pilot not extended. Official report: improving operations and generally positive rider views, but technology and partnership limits, including frequent need for human control in complex situations.
RIDOT via U.S. DOT National Transportation Library: official source
RIDOT, operated on Providence streets · RIDOT with May Mobility
Free electric shuttle on a 5.3-mile, 12-stop loop between Olneyville Square and Providence Station, 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. Each vehicle carried passengers plus a human attendant who could take manual control. RIDOT described it as research, not a fully driverless service.
Service launched May 15, 2019. Official evaluation covers May 2019–June 2020. Ended during the early COVID-19 period and was not renewed.
City of Providence · City of Providence
Providence’s sustainability transportation page states that the city is served by RIPTA, regional rail, and a free autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot, and that electric autonomous shuttles were among new transportation forms introduced in the city.
Public web description of the shuttle as part of Providence’s transportation mix. Not a council resolution authorizing driverless robotaxis.
RIDOT · Rhode Island Department of Transportation
RIDOT launched TRIP in 2017 as a multi-agency effort to study autonomous mobility, ridership, workforce, environment, and technology adoption. Little Roady was later described as a step in that program.
Program framework for later AV research and the 2019 shuttle pilot.
Rhode Island General Assembly · Sens. Miller, DiPalma, Walaska, Felag, and Jabour
Would have defined autonomous technology and vehicles, allowed a licensed person to operate a vehicle in autonomous mode (including remotely), set equipment rules, and allowed manufacturer testing with a human monitor except on a closed course, plus $5 million insurance for testers. Directed that conflicting federal NHTSA rules would supersede the section.
Introduced February 25, 2016, and referred to Senate Judiciary. No public law was enacted from this bill.
City of Providence (USDOT Smart City Challenge application) · City of Providence
In its USDOT Smart City Challenge application, Providence described plans for an Urban Automation Network and autonomous-vehicle testing along a 1.4-mile transit-emphasis corridor, plus public engagement and partnerships on mobility-on-demand. This was a competitive federal application, not an enacted city ordinance.
Archived by USDOT as Providence’s Smart City Challenge submission. We did not treat this as proof that the described AV network was built.
No items match those filters.
Separated on purpose. These are not Rhode Island actions. IIHS is a research nonprofit, not a legislature, but it is the cleanest comparable state-law table we found.
IIHS lists Rhode Island AV operation type as “none” (no testing-or-deployment statute in the tracker).
IIHS: testing only. A vehicle with an automated driving system requires a licensed driver in the vehicle.
IIHS: no AV testing or deployment statute listed (“none”).
IIHS: testing only, with a licensed driver required in the vehicle.