{"id":139141,"date":"2026-02-19T20:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139141\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T20:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:11:07","slug":"hochul-backpedals-on-self-driving-car-pilot-outside-nyc-after-driver-group-outcry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139141\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul backpedals on self-driving car pilot outside NYC after driver group outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/W1_pack_shot_2.webp.jpeg\" class=\"crop-center wp-post-image\" alt=\"W1_pack_shot_2\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   title=\"Hochul backpedals on self-driving car pilot outside NYC after driver group outcry 1\"\/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Kathy Hochul has withdrawn her proposal to test sleft-driving for-hire-vehicles on streets outside New York City.<\/p>\n<p>Photo courtesy of Waymo<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/governor.ny.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> reversed course on her State of the State proposal to establish a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/news\/hochul-self-driving-av-car-pilot-reactions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pilot program testing for-hire self-driving cars<\/a> in municipalities outside of New York City, her office confirmed on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Hochul\u2019s shift in gears on her proposal to test Waymo self-driving cars on upstate streets came after to strong backlash from for-hire vehicle driver groups and safe streets advocates. The change was made official in her 30-day amendments to her state budget proposal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBased on conversations with stakeholders, including in the legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal,\u201d Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler said in a statement. He added that it was too soon to say whether she would pursue the proposal again.<\/p>\n<p>The governor\u2019s about-face also follows a <a href=\"https:\/\/gothamist.com\/news\/self-driving-cars-wildly-unpopular-in-new-york-poll-finds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">survey conducted by Siena Research Institute<\/a>, on behalf of the Black Car Fund, a nonprofit driver group, which found that nearly 60% of upstate residents were against piloting self-driving cars in their backyards.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-137812119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/54929148687_2444103645_c.jpg\" alt=\"Gov. Kathy Hochul speaking\" width=\"799\" height=\"559\" title=\"Hochul backpedals on self-driving car pilot outside NYC after driver group outcry 2\"  \/>Gov. Kathy Hochul.Mike Groll\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)<\/p>\n<p>More than a majority of poll respondents said they opposed the testing of driverless robotic cars \u2014 also known as autonomous vehicles (AVs) \u2014 over safety fears, especially during inclement weather. They also aired concerns that AVs will put for-hire-vehicle drivers out of their jobs.<\/p>\n<p>For-hire-vehicle driver advocates were quick to applaud Hochul\u2019s move to pull the legislation.\n<\/p>\n<p>Ira Goldstein, executive director of the Black Car Fund, in a statement, thanked Hochul for \u201cremoving this proposal from her proposed state budget and for listening to the concerns of drivers, small businesses, and communities across New York.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOpening the door to commercial driverless vehicles anywhere in the state would have marked a significant policy shift with serious implications for working drivers and community safety,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In her own statement, New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai said the proposal was \u201chighly unpopular\u201d \u2014 appearing to refer to the Black Car Fund\u2019s poll. She also called for a moratorium on autonomous vehicles until the city and state conduct a \u201ccomprehensive study\u201d of their use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of kowtowing to trillionaire fantasies of maximizing profits by replacing workers with robots, redesigning public streets for corporate greed, and compromising our environment, government should hold these corporations accountable, create family-supporting jobs, end income inequality, regulate for accessible and fuel-efficient vehicles, and improve working conditions for drivers,\u201d Desai said.<\/p>\n<p>However, not everyone was a fan of the governor\u2019s move.\n<\/p>\n<p>Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of the tech industry trade group Chamber for Progress, said Hochul\u2019s change of mind on the matter deprives New York of the same purported benefits that AVs have brought to other states.<\/p>\n<p>He also cited the group\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/progresschamber.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/COP_Multi-State-AV-Survey_New-York_Memo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">own survey data, <\/a>collected last May, that found the majority of New York residents support testing and expanding access to self-driving cars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAutonomous vehicles are already driving down accident rates and improving pedestrian safety in Arizona, California, and Texas. It\u2019s disappointing that Governor Hochul is withdrawing her proposal, because New Yorkers deserve the same proven protections,\u201d Kovacevich said in a statement. \u201cMost New Yorkers are also on board with autonomous vehicles, which makes it even more puzzling that state leaders aren\u2019t racing to deliver safer streets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Kathy Hochul has withdrawn her proposal to test sleft-driving for-hire-vehicles on streets outside New York City. Photo&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[58854,32701,46120,58855,58856,3932,9,16152,56,63,65,64,58857],"class_list":{"0":"post-139141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-adam-kovacevich","9":"tag-bhairavi-desai","10":"tag-black-car-fund","11":"tag-chamber-for-progress","12":"tag-for-hire-vehicle","13":"tag-gov-kathy-hochul","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-taxi-workers-alliance","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-nyc-headlines","19":"tag-nyc-news","20":"tag-sean-butler"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139141","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=139141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}