Waymo Approved To Start Autonomous Vehicle Testing In New York City

Waymo has been granted a licence to trial its autonomous vehicles successful New York City, nan first specified support granted by nan city. The institution told TechCrunch it plans to commencement testing “immediately.”

The institution is allowed to deploy up to 8 of its Jaguar I-Pace SUVs successful Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn done precocious September. Waymo’s vehicles must person a trained information usability successful nan driver’s seat, pinch astatine slightest 1 manus connected nan instrumentality astatine each times. The institution cannot prime up passengers (since it would request a licence from nan city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission) and it has to regularly meet pinch and study information to nan city’s Department of Transportation (DOT), according to nan mayor’s office.

The licence brings Waymo 1 measurement person to launching a robotaxi work successful nan city, which would beryllium arguably its astir challenging to date. The institution presently operates successful San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. All of those are warm-weather cities, and only San Francisco comes adjacent to nan complexity of operating successful New York City.

Waymo has spent years poking astatine nan Big Apple, starting successful 2021 erstwhile it utilized its Chrysler Pacifica minivans to manually representation nan city. And receiving this licence was nary judge thing. The institution applied successful June, and has spent nan past fewer months gathering pinch lawmakers and section organizations for illustration Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

The licence is portion of a caller autonomous conveyance information authorities launched by Mayor Eric Adams successful 2024. To apply, Waymo had to coordinate pinch first responders, taxable a testing scheme to nan section DOT, on pinch a information scheme that documented nan qualifications of nan conveyance operators, among different things. Waymo has besides obtained nan “necessary permits” from nan New York authorities Department of MOtor Vehicles, according to nan mayor’s office.

When Waymo’s proceedings play ends successful precocious September, it will person to use for an hold if it wants to support testing.