Waymo has been granted a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in New York City, the first such approval granted by the city. The company told TechCrunch it plans to start testing \u201cimmediately.\u201d <\/p>\n
The company is allowed to deploy up to eight of its Jaguar I-Pace SUVs in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn through late September. Waymo\u2019s vehicles must have a trained safety operator in the driver\u2019s seat, with at least one hand on the wheel at all times. The company cannot pick up passengers (since it would need a license from the city\u2019s Taxi and Limousine Commission) and it has to regularly meet with and report data to the city\u2019s Department of Transportation (DOT), according to the mayor\u2019s office<\/a>.<\/p>\n The permit brings Waymo one step closer to launching a robotaxi service in the city, which would be arguably its most challenging to date. The company currently operates in San Francisco, Austin, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. All of those are warm-weather cities, and only San Francisco comes close to the complexity of operating in New York City.<\/p>\n Waymo has spent years poking at the Big Apple, starting in 2021 when it used its Chrysler Pacifica minivans to manually map the city. And receiving this permit was no sure thing. The company applied in June, and has spent the last few months meeting with lawmakers and local organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. <\/p>\n