Self-driving taxis may soon take over New York’s streets, signaling a dramatic shift that could phase out the city’s legendary yellow cabs.
Waymo, the autonomous ride-hailing company backed by Google’s parent firm Alphabet, rolled its high-tech vehicles into New York City this week—not yet offering rides, but beginning street-mapping missions. For now, a human remains behind the wheel as the company awaits a legislative green light for fully autonomous operations.
“We’re on the move in the Big Apple,” the company announced Monday night on X. “We’ve begun testing in New York – be sure to give us a wave and snap a pic if you see us in the city.”
Last month, Waymo filed a formal application with the Department of Transportation to begin testing, which includes a stipulation that a human safety operator must remain present during all operations, per state regulations.
“We are working hard to bring Waymo to New Yorkers in the future, starting with this testing and advocating for changes to state law,” a DOT spokesperson said.
Two proposed bills introduced in Albany back in January aim to lift the legal restrictions on fully driverless vehicles. Both measures, however, remain stalled in committee, leaving the future of autonomous travel in New York uncertain for now.
If the legislation eventually passes, it would mark the city’s first official autonomous vehicle testing program. For now, though, Waymo says its cars won’t be ferrying passengers as they collect data.
“The data to date shows that Waymo outperforms human drivers, significantly reducing the frequency of injury-causing traffic collisions,” a company representative said. According to Waymo, its trips lead to 78% fewer injury-related crashes, including a 93% drop in incidents involving pedestrians and 81% fewer accidents with cyclists compared to traditional rideshare services.
The looming presence of robotaxis also casts a shadow over the livelihoods of thousands of local drivers.
“What’s the plan for potential joblessness of over 200,000 New Yorkers and the plan to keep one million riders a day safe?” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the NY Taxi Workers Alliance, said in an interview with Fox 5 before the testing kicked off.
This summer, Waymo’s electric fleet—armed with artificial intelligence and self-navigation systems—will comb the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn to build out its internal mapping system. Neighborhoods included in the mission are Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, and Boerum Hill.
The company also plans to chart areas of New Jersey, specifically Jersey City and Hoboken, as part of its broader rollout across the metro region.
Waymo first explored Manhattan roads back in 2021, though that effort focused mainly on gathering weather-related insights. Now, the Waymo Driver software will log data on everything from jaywalkers and horse-drawn carriages to bike lanes, cab traffic, and road work.
“We have every intention of bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the city in the future,” Waymo said in a statement.
Currently, Waymo runs around 250,000 fully autonomous rides weekly across five cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. The company has announced plans to debut its services in Miami later this year, with Washington D.C. targeted for a 2026 launch.
{Matzav.com}