Waymo has announced plans to bring its autonomous ride-sharing service to New York City. However, don’t expect to hail a self-driving taxi just yet.
In a recent teaser post, Waymo said it has officially started the process of expanding to New York. The company, owned by Alphabet, is known for successfully launching autonomous taxis in cities like Phoenix and San Francisco. Now, it’s setting its sights on one of the busiest cities in the world.
This isn’t Waymo’s first time in New York. The company previously used the city’s crowded streets to train drivers in manually controlled vehicles. New York’s busy traffic makes it a good place to gather data for improving autonomous driving.
For now, Waymo has applied for a special permit from the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT). If approved, the company will begin testing with human “specialists” behind the wheel of its Jaguar I-PACE vehicles.
Waymo also plans to double its vehicle fleet in the next year, which could speed up the testing phase. But full, driverless service is still likely a few years away. Based on how long it took in other cities, it could take about three to four years before New Yorkers see fully autonomous taxis on the streets.
Waymo continues to expand its reach, but like in other major cities, the road to full autonomy in New York will be a long one.
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