Waymo’s Dreams of Global Expansion Take Major Blow Thanks to About Face by New York Governor
Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled her proposal last week to allow robotaxi services like Waymo to operate in smaller cities outside of New York City. Hochul had included the proposal in her January budget.
Hochul abandoned the proposal to allow Waymo commercial robotaxis in parts of New York state because, according to Bloomberg, the proposal would have failed.
“Based on conversations with stakeholders, including in the Legislature, it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal,” a spokesperson for the governor said.
Waymo had been using human monitors to test its driverless cars in the state. However, cab and ride-sharing drivers, labor unions, and transit employees fiercely opposed that expansion into New York.
Last week, Albany residents saw a Waymo robotaxi driving through the city. The sightings spurred people to post numerous videos and photos of the vehicle on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
The Albany Times-Union reported that the Waymo robotaxi was in Albany “for a live, static demonstration.” So, while a small fleet of eight Waymo robotaxis currently exists in New York City as part of a pilot program, residents of Albany and other parts of the state won’t be seeing them again, at least for awhile.
“While we are disappointed by the governor’s decision, we’re committed to bringing our service to New York and will work with the state Legislature to advance this issue,” Waymo spokesman Ethan Teicher wrote in an email.
Waymo robotaxis face strong opposition in several states
Teamsters in multiple states want Waymo’s operating license suspended. The powerful union is also demanding that all autonomous vehicles have human operators.
“Waymo vehicles have continued to illegally ignore school bus stop signs despite a company-wide software recall and another, separate NHTSA investigation,” Peter Finn and Victor Mineros, co-chairs of Teamsters California, wrote earlier this month. “Parents, teachers, school workers, and community members have been demanding that these vehicles be kept away from school zones. Waymo and its parent company, Google, choose to ignore those warnings.”
An autonomous Waymo vehicle hit a child at an elementary school near a California elementary school in January. That same month, a Waymo “Ojai” prototype robotaxi veered off the road, then crashed into multiple parked cars, with a human behind the wheel.
In the meantime, Waymo declared earlier this month that it had begun providing autonomous taxi services in Nashville, Tennessee. The San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Metro Phoenix, Arizona, Austin, Texas, and Atlanta are currently home to over 2,500 of the company’s autonomous vehicles.
