{"id":138907,"date":"2026-02-19T17:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138907\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T17:08:07","slug":"new-york-drops-plan-to-legalize-robotaxis-in-setback-for-waymo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138907\/","title":{"rendered":"New York drops plan to legalize robotaxis in setback for Waymo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) dropped her proposal to allow robotaxi companies to launch commercially in cities other than New York City, citing a lack of support among state legislators, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-02-19\/new-york-s-robotaxi-plan-pulled-in-setback-to-waymo-expansion?srnd=phx-technology\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bloomberg reports today<\/a>. The move is a blow to Waymo and other robotaxi companies who saw New York, and especially New York City, as a potential goldmine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">The plan, which was introduced by Hochul as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/news\/governor-hochul-unveils-proposals-fuel-innovation-and-create-good-paying-jobs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the state\u2019s budget proposal last month<\/a>, would have allowed limited robotaxi deployment in cities other than the Big Apple \u2014 while leaving whether New York City would get autonomous vehicles up to the mayor and the City Council. But now that plan is DOA, as support in the legislature never materialized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cBased on conversations with stakeholders, including in the legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal,\u201d Sean Butler, a Hochul spokesperson, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">The news is a setback for Waymo, which has been eyeing New York, and especially NYC, for years for the potential launch of its robotaxi business. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/01\/25\/waymo-robotaxi-autonomous-new-york-00745351\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to Politico<\/a>, Waymo spent at least $1.8 million since 2019 lobbying Hochul and state lawmakers, as well as city officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">\u201cWhile we are disappointed by the Governor\u2019s decision, we\u2019re committed to bringing our service to New York and will work with the State Legislature to advance this issue,\u201d Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher said in a statement. \u201cThe path forward requires a collaborative approach that prioritizes transparency and public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Under its current rules, autonomous vehicles are only allowed in New York with safety drivers who keep their hands on the steering wheel. The state law originally required a police escort, but a renewal of the law several years ago removed that language.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1ymtmqpi _17nnmdy1 _17nnmdy0 _1xwtict1\">Automakers and tech companies testing AVs tend to flock to states with friendlier regulations (like Arizona and Texas) or places that are more convenient to their headquarters (like California). New York is neither, but it does represent one of the biggest taxi markets in the world \u2014 and therefore is a ripe target for robotaxis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) dropped her proposal to allow robotaxi companies to launch commercially in cities&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[58778,9,24,55,54,12,56,1413,87,608,5376],"class_list":["post-138907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-autonomous-cars","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-news","tag-ny","tag-policy","tag-politics","tag-transportation","tag-waymo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138907","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=138907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}