{"id":100608,"date":"2026-01-14T23:06:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100608\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T23:06:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:06:28","slug":"hochuls-self-driving-for-hire-av-pilot-program-draws-anxiety-from-nyc-groups-pols-amnewyork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100608\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul\u2019s self-driving for-hire AV pilot program draws anxiety from NYC groups, pols \u2013 amNewYork"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Waymo\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Waymo has received New York City\u2019s first permit to test self-driving cars with safety drivers.<\/p>\n

Photo by Getty Images\/JasonDoiy <\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> pledged on Tuesday to introduce a bill paving the way for testing self-driving for-hire autonomous vehicles (AV) outside of New York City \u2014 but elected officials and activists in the Big Apple expressed anxiety over the idea.<\/p>\n

The policy book that accompanied the governor\u2019s annual State of the State address said she plans to put forward a measure that will \u201cadvance the next phase\u201d of a state-run pilot program by allowing the \u201climited deployment\u201d of the for-hire AVs in parts of the state other than the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

AV companies interested in piloting their self-driving technology in specific parts of the state will have to put in applications that \u201cdemonstrate local support\u201d for participating in the program, the policy book reads. Similar to arguments advanced by other AV proponents, Hochul\u2019s office wrote that the devices have the potential to improve road safety and provide more travel options.<\/p>\n

However, the governor\u2019s proposed embrace of self-driving cars drew skepticism from Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\n<\/p>\n

Hizzoner, during a Tuesday night news conference, in which he appointed Midori Valdivia as the city\u2019s next Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) head<\/a>, said he would not speak to the governor\u2019s proposal because it would not directly affect the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do take the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously,\u201d Mamdani told reporters, \u201cand will always make sure that our policy and our decision-making is focused on the drivers who are here alongside me, in front of me, behind me, who keep our city moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani was referring to for-hire vehicle drivers who were gathered with him for the news conference at La Guardia Airport in Queens.\n<\/p>\n

AV testing in NYC<\/p>\n

But the city has already taken steps to pilot AVs on its streets.\n<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Department of Transportation began allowing the self-driving car company Waymo<\/a> to test its vehicles, albeit with trained drivers behind the wheel, in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn in September.\u00a0Waymo\u2019s permit to test eight AVs, which was issued by former Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration, will be active through March 31 of this year.<\/p>\n

Under current city regulations,<\/a> companies like Waymo are not permitted to offer for-hire rides within the city.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s proposal drew backlash from safe streets advocates and for-hire-vehicle driver groups.
\n\"Gov.Gov. Kathy Hochul delivering her State of the State address.(Darren McGee\/ Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)\n<\/p>\n

The detractors cited concerns that there is still not enough evidence to show that self-driving cars are safer than manually operated vehicles and that they have the potential to put for-hire drivers out of a job.<\/p>\n

The group Open Plans, in a lengthy statement, said Hochul\u2019s plan should be met with \u201cserious scrutiny.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no evidence that AVs help us achieve our goals to make our state or city\u2019s streets more people-centered,\u201d the group said. \u201cWhile exempting New York City from this program is critical, there are still too many unanswered questions to allow fully driverless AVs anywhere in New York State.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group added that while the pilot does not include the Big Apple, AV companies have \u201cmade clear their intentions to enter New York City.\u201d It also cautioned that the state should make data gathered from the pilot available to outside experts for analysis, while holding AV companies to account for traffic law violations.<\/p>\n

Ira Goldstein, executive director of the Black Car Fund, in a statement, said the governor\u2019s pilot could be a slippery slope to eliminating for-hire-vehicle driver positions.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not about geography. It is about trajectory,\u201d Goldstein said. \u201cAuthorizing driverless for-hire vehicles anywhere in New York sends a clear signal that the state is willing to put experimental technology on public roads at the direct expense of working drivers and the jobs they rely on. Once that happens, expansion is not hypothetical. It is inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Waymo has received New York City\u2019s first permit to test self-driving cars with safety drivers. Photo by Getty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[5487,46119,46120,98,100,99,6157,3932,22925,9,24,63,34531,45264,46121],"class_list":{"0":"post-100608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-autonomous-vehicles","9":"tag-avs","10":"tag-black-car-fund","11":"tag-brooklyn","12":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","13":"tag-brooklyn-news","14":"tag-dot","15":"tag-gov-kathy-hochul","16":"tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-new-york-city","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-open-plans","21":"tag-self-driving-cars","22":"tag-tlc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}