within a document<\/a> that outlines an array of proposals and promises Hochul made in her State of the State address.\u00a0<\/p>\nAmong them is language to expand the state\u2019s existing AV pilot program to allow for \u201cthe limited deployment of commercial for-hire autonomous passenger vehicles outside New York City.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The document goes on to say companies that want to operate robotaxi services commercially will have to submit applications that \u201cdemonstrate local support for AV deployment and adherence to the highest possible safety standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear what \u201climited deployment\u201d or \u201chighest possible safety standards\u201d mean. Nor does the document outline how the state will track or make judgments on a company\u2019s safety record, except that multiple agencies will be involved, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Transportation, and New York State Police.<\/p>\n
The governor\u2019s office told TechCrunch more will be shared in the governor\u2019s executive budget proposal that is set to be released on January 20.<\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Still, the remarks were enough of an opening to make Alphabet-owned Waymo cheer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernor Hochul\u2019s proposal to legalize fully autonomous vehicles is a transformative moment for New York\u2019s transportation system,\u201d Justin Kintz, Waymo\u2019s head of global public policy, said in an emailed statement. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Governor\u2019s leadership, New York has the opportunity to pair its investments in slower speeds, better traffic enforcement, and first-in-the-nation congestion management strategies with Waymo\u2019s demonstrably safe technology, creating a future where living in New York is safer, easier, and more accessible. We\u2019re ready to work with leaders around the state to make this future a reality, and bring new infrastructure, career opportunities, and investment to the Empire State,\u201d said Kintz.<\/p>\n
Waymo and other companies have tried for years to enter New York state with limited success. Current New York state law mandates that drivers keep one hand on the wheel at all times. That poses a problem for robotaxi operators like Waymo since no human is behind the wheel \u2014 if there is a steering wheel at all.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s AV pilot program has provided an exemption to that rule, theoretically allowing companies to develop and test autonomous vehicles in the state.<\/p>\n
Still, there are significant hurdles, particularly in New York City. Last August, city regulators granted a permit to Waymo to test its robotaxis in the densely populated city. Under that permit, Waymo can deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn with a human safety operator behind the wheel. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that the permit has been extended until March 31.<\/p>\n
Even with the permit, Waymo can\u2019t carry passengers or\u00a0operate\u00a0a commercial robotaxi service\u00a0without getting separate licenses from the city\u2019s Taxi and Limousine Commission. <\/p>\n
And while legislation was introduced<\/a>\u00a0last year to create a framework for driverless operation, it has languished in the state Senate\u2019s transportation committee. The governor\u2019s proposal could help loosen that bottleneck. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Governor Kathy Hochul plans to introduce legislation that would effectively legalize robotaxis in the state \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5487,9,24,55,54,56,5488,5376],"class_list":{"0":"post-99363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-autonomous-vehicles","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-city-news","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-robotaxis","15":"tag-waymo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99363","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=99363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}