Waymo will test eight vehicles in the city through September after applying for permitting in New York City in June. This comes after the autonomous vehicle company already expanded to other major metro areas.
With this test of its vehicle technology in the largest city in the U.S., Waymo faces its biggest challenge yet. In addition to testing in New York, it aims to continue its expansion in various parts of the country.
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Waymo Expands Its Business
Waymo received its first permit on Aug. 22 to begin testing in New York, the city's Department of Transportation said. It will begin testing in parts of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. This comes after the company launched in Austin, Texas and expanded its operations in San Francisco.
Waymo also has plans to expand to additional cities, including Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
Waymo has already completed 10 million rides in five cities, said Annabel Chang, head of U.S. state and local public policy at Waymo. Waymo highlights the importance of vehicle safety, drawing support from groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the New York City DOT report says.
This was not Waymo's first attempt at testing the waters in New York. In 2021, it drove its vehicles through densely populated parts of the city, although these vehicles were human-operated and used to map the city’s streets.
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Political and Regulatory Environment
Waymo's successful application for autonomous vehicle testing in New York was no small feat. The DOT says it has the nation's strictest autonomous vehicle rules, requiring the presence of a trained specialist behind the wheel at all times. In January, a bill was introduced in the New York State Senate to remove the requirement for a human operator.
Despite this high bar, Waymo was granted permission for up to eight autonomous vehicles to operate in the city through late September, the DOT says. The test is expected to proceed despite resistance from New York City taxi drivers.
New York's local rules currently don't allow autonomous vehicles to pick up passengers, so this phase will only be a test of the vehicles' capabilities.
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The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead
As Waymo expands into major metropolitan areas in the U.S., the company may face significant challenges. New York may be especially challenging due to dense traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other obstacles that inevitably exist in a city with such high activity.
Other logistical concerns exist for companies like Waymo, such as charging, vehicle maintenance, and scalability. Given that no company has yet scaled an autonomous vehicle operation, Waymo faces a challenging task ahead.
Still, Waymo's test in New York represents a significant opportunity. Successful testing could set the tone for expansion into other dense urban environments and could help Waymo continue its momentum.
In addition to Waymo's 10 million rides, it had already completed 100 million rider-only miles through June 2024. Waymo says those miles resulted in 84% fewer airbag deployments and 73% fewer injury-causing crashes compared to human drivers.
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