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Waymo, the self-driving car company backed by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has received its first permit from New York City to begin testing autonomous vehicles on city streets, officials said Friday.
The company will be allowed to test up to eight vehicles in parts of Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn through late September, with the option to apply to extend the trial, Mayor Eric Adams and city Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a release.
Under the pilot program, Waymo must coordinate closely with the DOT, submit regular data reports and prove that they are aligning with “the industry’s best practices related to cybersecurity,” the release said.
The company will also be required to have a trained specialist behind the wheel of each vehicle.
Rodriguez said the city’s rules are designed to keep streets safe as autonomous technology expands nationwide.
“These requirements will help ensure that the development of this technology is focused, first and foremost, on the safety of everyone who shares our busy city streets,” he said in a statement.
In his own statement, Adams said his administration is “always looking for innovative ways to safely move our city forward.”
“New York City is proud to welcome Waymo to test this new technology in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as we know this testing is only the first step in moving our city further into the 21st century,” he said.
The city’s approval of the driverless vehicles applies only to testing.
As of now, the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission does not allow autonomous vehicles to be used for for-hire service, the release noted, meaning New Yorkers won’t be able to hail a self-driving taxi just yet.

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