Don’t miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google.
Following successful rollouts in Austin and the Bay Area earlier this year, Waymo has been granted permission to begin testing a limited number of its robotaxis in parts of Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn, New York.
With approval from the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), Waymo will be permitted to test up to eight autonomous vehicles in these areas until late September 2025. After the pilot period, the Alphabet-owned company will have the opportunity to apply for an extension. Due to New York State’s strict autonomous vehicle regulations, the robotaxis will still be required to have a trained AV specialist behind the wheel at all times.
Though securing a foothold in one of America’s largest cities would be a huge win for the company, not everyone is happy about Waymo’s entrance into the market. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio slammed the approval in a post on X, writing: “If there’s one place on Earth that was NOT meant for self-driving cars, it’s NYC,” calling it a “really bad idea.”
Curtis Tate, Administrative Vice President of the Transport Workers Union, echoed the former mayor’s concerns. “New York is America’s most densely populated big city. There’s a dizzying amount of activity from an unmatched number of pedestrians, bicyclists, pedicabs, and motorists,” he said in the statement.
Tate warned the testing is a step toward “eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs” and would only “make big tech bros even richer.” However, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said his organization’s 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.”
But despite opposition from some quarters, Waymo is continuing its ambitious nationwide rollout in 2025. The company is currently testing its vehicles in Philadelphia, and is eyeing a 2026 rollout in Dallas, Texas, as well as Washington DC and Miami. The company claims to have completed over 10 million rides in five major US cities so far.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last month closed its 14-month investigation into a series of 22 incidents involving self-driving Waymo vehicles, including 17 collisions.
I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.
I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.
PCMag is obsessed with culture and tech, offering smart, spirited coverage of the products and innovations that shape our connected lives and the digital trends that keep us talking.
