City permits expire as state debate continues
Autonomous vehicle testing by Waymo has come to a temporary halt on New York City streets after two permits allowing limited trials expired on March 31, according to the city’s Department of Transportation.
The permits, issued last year, authorized Waymo to test its self-driving technology in parts of Downtown Brooklyn and south of 112th Street in Manhattan. Although the company’s Jaguar I-PACE vehicles can still be manually driven for data collection, active autonomous testing under city authorization has stopped.
“Our top priority for AV testing is public safety,” said DOT spokesperson Vin Barone, noting that future policy decisions will focus on worker protections as well as safety.
Limited pilot showed no reported collisions
Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, operated eight vehicles during the trial period, each with a trained safety specialist behind the wheel. According to NYC DOT, no collisions were reported involving the test fleet.
The vehicles had received clearance from both the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and the city DOT for road testing. The pilot was originally approved last August under former Mayor Eric Adams.
State policy remains a key hurdle
The expiration comes amid shifting signals from Albany. In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul stepped back from a proposal that would have allowed certain autonomous vehicles to operate outside New York City.
Waymo said it hopes the state DMV testing permit will be renewed as part of ongoing budget negotiations. If renewed, the company would evaluate next steps for additional city trials.
Legislation introduced in 2021 sought to remove the requirement for a human safety driver, provided vehicles meet insurance and safety conditions. The bill has not advanced, despite more than $3 million in lobbying expenditures by the company.
Labor and safety concerns persist
The technology has drawn resistance from taxi and for-hire vehicle groups. The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission licenses nearly 180,000 drivers, many of whom view fully autonomous vehicles as a potential threat to jobs.
“Neither the city nor the state are ready,” said Bhairavi Desai of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, arguing that regulatory frameworks remain incomplete.
Waymo points to its national safety record, stating that across 170 million miles of fully autonomous driving, its vehicles have been involved in 92% fewer serious or fatal crashes compared with human drivers in markets where it operates. The company has already launched driverless services in 10 U.S. cities and plans expansion into 18 more, as well as London and Tokyo.
Unique challenges of New York streets
Transportation experts caution that New York presents complexities unlike most American cities. Dense pedestrian traffic, cyclists, e-bikes and varied mobility patterns could complicate large-scale deployment.
Sam Schwartz of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute called for independent safety studies before fully driverless vehicles are introduced. He noted that much of the data cited by AV companies is generated internally or funded by industry sources.
For now, New York’s robotaxi ambitions remain paused, pending legislative decisions and broader agreement on safety, labor protections and public transparency.