Waymo’s Robot Car Testing Ends in NYC After Permits Expire

This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.

Robot cars are no longer being put to the test — for now — on New York City streets.

A pair of permits issued last year that allowed Waymo to test its autonomous vehicle technology in parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan expired March 31, a Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed to THE CITY Friday.

But it’s unclear what comes next in New York for the company’s so-called robotaxis that are already in use without drivers in 10 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Houston and Los Angeles.

“Our top priority for AV testing is public safety and, as the mayor has made clear, any AV policy decisions will center workers and their well-being,” said Vin Barone, a spokesperson for DOT, referring to autonomous vehicles, or AVs.

Testing was given the green light last August by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams. A City Hall spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from THE CITY.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had been operating eight robot cars — with a “trained safety specialist” behind the wheel at all times — in Downtown Brooklyn and south of 112th Street in Manhattan since last year.

Waymo did not report any collisions involving the eight autonomous vehicles tested in the city, according to NYC DOT.

The Jaguar I-PACE Waymo Driver vehicles equipped with autonomous vehicle technology had been cleared for road testing by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and New York City DOT.

Both permits expired last week even though Waymo vehicles can still be manually driven in the city for the purpose of data collection, according to NYC DOT.

The end of the testing came after Gov. Kathy Hochul pumped the brakes in February from her earlier proposal to allow some autonomous vehicles to operate outside of New York City. A Waymo spokesperson said the company is hopeful that the state DMV testing permit — which could trigger additional trial runs in the city — will be renewed in this year’s state budget, being negotiated now.

If the state permit is renewed, Waymo will then evaluate its driving operations within New York City, the spokesperson said.

“We’ve heard from thousands of New Yorkers who have already experienced Waymo and want access to it at home,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “While we are disappointed with the governor’s decision, we’re committed to working with the state legislature to bring Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles to New York.”

Albany lawmakers introduced a bill in 2021 that would undo the requirement for a human driver as long as the autonomous vehicle carries insurance and meets other conditions. But it has failed to advance, despite the company pouring more than $3 million into lobbying city and state leaders, as THE CITY reported last September.

The technology has faced criticism from representatives for operators of taxis and for-hire vehicles such as Uber and Lyft over its potential for economic upheaval. The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission licenses close to 180,000 drivers, according to TLC numbers.

“Neither the city nor the state are ready,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers. “We don’t have any policies or regulations in place and to allow these companies to roll out their gadgets means they will shape what the policies will be.”

Then there are questions over the safety records of autonomous vehicles.

Waymo has touted its safety record in cities where its driverless vehicles can be booked for rides via apps.

“Data from 170 million miles of fully autonomous driving shows the Waymo Driver is involved in 92% fewer crashes that cause serious or fatal injuries compared to human drivers where we operate,” the company spokesperson said. “In San Francisco, 73% of people surveyed said they feel safe with Waymo on their streets and 68% say Waymo has a positive impact on road safety in the city.”

The spokesperson added that the company’s testing in two of the boroughs shared “strong foundational similarities” with operations in San Francisco and elsewhere. Expansion plans are in the works for 18 other U.S. cities, as well as London and Tokyo.

Sam Schwartz, director of the transportation research program at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, challenged those findings and said “truly independent” studies of autonomous vehicles are a must before fully driverless vehicles take to the streets in New York.

Waymo declined to share with THE CITY any findings from its months of testing in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

“All of the AV companies have been opaque with their data,” Schwartz said. “Any of the studies that they cite have either been funded by them or done by their very own companies.”

Schwartz, who served as New York City traffic commissioner under Mayor Ed Koch in the mid-1980s, also pointed to how the city’s crowded streetscape could create challenges for driverless vehicles.

“It’s unlike any other place in the U.S.,” he said. “We have so many ways people move about, we have pretty aggressive pedestrians, we have a large senior population, we have bike riders that are going from 5 miles per hour to e-bikes that can go 30 miles per hour.”

All of those factors, he said, could make for a bumpy road in the New York rollout of autonomous vehicles.

“There are a lot of hurdles,” Schwartz said.

Jose is THE CITY’s transportation reporter, where he covers the latest developments and policies impacting traffic and transit in the city. He can be reached at jmartinez@thecity.nyc