Yomiuri Shimbun/ Reuters
Waymo just notched a big win in the self-driving car wars.
The autonomous vehicle company that years ago spun off from Google has received approval to begin testing its cars in New York City.
“We’re a tech-friendly administration and we’re always looking for innovative ways to safely move our city forward,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a press release announcing the permit approval.
His statement continued, “As we continue to implement responsible innovation, we will always prioritize street safety.”
Waymo will be allowed to test up to eight autonomous vehicles in Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn until late September, at which point it can apply to extend the pilot testing period. According to the announcement, the vehicles will be required to have a trained autonomous vehicle specialist behind the wheel at all times.
Waymo already offers driverless taxi services in other locales, including the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, as well as Austin and Atlanta, both of which offer Waymo as an option through Uber’s ride-hailing app.
It’s not the only company vying to test its vehicles in New York.
Tesla is hiring prototype vehicle operators in Queens to drive engineering vehicles for data collection, according to a job listing on the company’s website for a “Vehicle Operator, Autopilot.”
However, earlier this month, a spokesperson for New York City’s Department of Transportation told Business Insider that Tesla hasn’t applied for a permit to test autonomous vehicles in the city.
Another competitor, Amazon-backed Zoox, is building a robotaxi without steering wheels and is testing it in a handful of US cities, though not New York City.
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