Waymo approved to start autonomous vehicle testing in New York City
Waymo has been granted a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in New York City, the first such approval granted by the city. The company told TechCrunch it plans to start testing “immediately.”
The company is allowed to deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn through late September. Waymo’s vehicles must have a trained safety operator in the driver’s seat, with at least one hand on the wheel at all times. The company cannot pick up passengers (since it would need a license from the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission) and it has to regularly meet with and report data to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT), according to the mayor’s office.
The permit brings Waymo one step closer to launching a robotaxi service in the city, which would be arguably its most challenging to date. The company currently operates in San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. All of those are warm-weather cities, and only San Francisco comes close to the complexity of operating in New York City.
Waymo has spent years poking at the Big Apple, starting in 2021 when it used its Chrysler Pacifica minivans to manually map the city. And receiving this permit was no sure thing. The company applied in June, and has spent the last few months meeting with lawmakers and local organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The permit is part of a new autonomous vehicle safety regime launched by Mayor Eric Adams in 2024. To apply, Waymo had to coordinate with first responders, as well as submit a testing plan to the local DOT, along with a safety plan that documented the qualifications of the vehicle operators, among other things. Waymo has also obtained the “necessary permits” from the New York state Department of Motor Vehicles, according to the mayor’s office.
When Waymo’s trial period ends in late September, it will have to apply for an extension if it wants to keep testing.
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Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.
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