Waymo has set its robotaxi sights on NYC

Summary

Waymo said Wednesday it has applied for a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in New York City, the Alphabet company’s first step in a sticky regulatory process to bring its robotaxis to U.S.’s largest city. Waymo applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate its self-driving Jaguar I-Pace vehicles with a human safety operator behind the wheel in Manhattan. New York’s autonomous vehicle demonstration or testing permit requires a human driver to be able to take over; a $5 million insurance policy; and every test vehicle operator must be adequately trained in the safe operation of the test vehicle. New York law is especially prohibitive of autonomous vehicles. While securing a permit would be notable, Waymo is far from being able to launch commercial operations in the city — or even test without a human safety operator behind the wheel. Still, Waymo is pressing forward and said it’s advocating for a change in state law that would allow for operating a vehicle with no human behind the wheel. The company is also trying to build goodwill in NYC and the state by working with several organizations such as MADD NY, YAI, National Federation of the Blind, and the Bronx Community College. Waymo told TechCrunch it has had positive conversations with lawmakers this year and hopes to keep making progress on regulatory changes. New York law states that any person operating a motor vehicle must have at least one hand (or prosthetic) on the steering mechanism at all times. Changing that wording will be key to Waymo eventually being able to deploy driverless vehicles. Other companies have tried to test in NYC before, including Mobileye and the now shuttered Cruise. But these efforts never materialized beyond a few demonstrations or pilots. Of course, New York City has other challenges beyond regulations. The city is chock-a-block with cars, trucks, delivery vans, bicycles, buses — and importantly, people, all of whom are scuttling about. San F...