New Proposed Legislation Would Let Self-Driving Cars Operate in New York State

"On Tuesday, as part of her annual State of State address, Governor Kathy Hochul is set to announce that she is proposing legislation that would expand New York's current regulations to allow companies to operate limited commercial self-driving car services in cities around the state, her office confirmed Monday. Pilot robotaxi programs would only be approved if the companies submit applications that "demonstrate local support" for their tech's deployment, as well as robust safety records. The program would exclude New York City."

"As self-driving car services from Alphabet's Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, and Tesla have slowly, quietly expanded across the US, one big, important state has mostly stayed mum: New York. The union's fourth most populous state has some of the tightest laws governing autonomous vehicles, requiring companies approved to test in the state to only do so with a driver behind the wheel. There's no current path for companies to operate the sort of commercial robotaxi services like the sort seen in San Francisco or Las Vegas."

Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing legislation to expand New York regulations to allow limited commercial self-driving car services in cities around the state. Pilot robotaxi programs would require applications demonstrating local support and robust safety records, and state agencies would enforce high safety standards. The proposal would exclude New York City and leaves no immediate pathway for fully driverless commercial operations at scale. Current testing rules require a driver behind the wheel, and New York City operates its own autonomous-vehicle testing permit program without permitting driverless service on busy streets. Plans for full commercial rollouts will be determined later.

Read at WIRED