Gov. Kathy Hochul has spiked plans to allow companies like Waymo to test self-driving cars outside the Big Apple.
Hochul had first pitched the plan in her State of the State address last month. A Siena Research poll released earlier this month found that self-driving cars are deeply unpopular in New York.
“Based on conversations with stakeholders, including in the Legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal,” Sean Butler, a spokesperson for Hochul, said in a statement.
The legislation would have allowed the limited deployment of autonomous commercial for-hire vehicles like the taxi service Waymo to pick up and drop off customers outside the city. Waymo cars operate in other big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.
New York represents another massive market for the company, which is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet. State and city disclosures show that Waymo has been lobbying to introduce its service into New York since at least 2019.
Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher said that the company wasn’t giving up on New York.
“While we are disappointed by the governor’s decision, we're committed to bringing our service to New York and will work with the state Legislature to advance this issue,” Teicher said in a statement. “The path forward requires a collaborative approach that prioritizes transparency and public safety. We will continue to engage constructively with the governor, the Legislature, and officials around the state to deliver this proven mobility option that New Yorkers are waiting for."
Waymo has faced opposition from street safety groups and unions representing for-hire and yellow cab drivers.
Hochul’s decision raises questions about the future of a Waymo pilot currently underway in New York City. Eight of the self-driving cars have a permit from the city Department of Transportation to operate in most of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn — with a human behind the wheel — through the end of March.
Waymo needs state legislators to amend the state’s Vehicle Traffic Law, which requires vehicles to have a human driver behind the wheel, before deploying its fleet of autonomous vehicles in large numbers across the state.
Transit advocacy group Open Plans previously said Waymo cars aren’t compatible with New York City streets. The Independent Drivers Guild in recent weeks gathered more than 20,000 signatures for a petition to ban autonomous vehicle testing and services in the city and state. And the union representing yellow cabs and for-hire vehicle drivers feared the new service could kill their industry.
“The trillionaires at Waymo are underestimating the power of drivers at their own peril,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “We’re not going down without a fight.”