A battle is brewing in New York over self-driving taxis.
While robotaxis, from companies Waymo, Zoox and May Mobility, have been operating in San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami, Austin and other major cities for a while, the new technology has yet to convince New York City officials.
Governor Kathy Hochul said this month she would introduce legislation that would allow a small fleet of commercial, for-hire self-driving vehicles to operate outside of the five boroughs. Lawmakers in Albany have also introduced legislation that would allow autonomous vehicles on public roads elsewhere in the state.
In the Big Apple, there appears to be little appetite for the cars. Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a fierce defender of New York City taxi cab drivers, who have endured crippling financial complications due to the introduction of rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a union representing yellow cab drivers that helped get Mamdani elected, has expressed immense skepticism toward autonomous vehicle taxi services.
“There’s potential here for massive job loss, and also a fundamental change in the service that New Yorkers are provided,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told City & State last month.
Mamdani has not given his official position on self-driving taxis, but previously said he takes “the arrival of autonomous vehicles very seriously” and wants to make sure policy is “focused on the drivers.”
The Independent has asked Mamdani’s office for comment.
A spokesperson for Hochul told Politico that the governor “will always stand with workers and has no interest in advancing policies that put hard-working New Yorkers’ jobs at risk.” The spokesperson emphasized that the governor’s proposal is “limited” and “safety-focused.”
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, borough president of Manhattan and a former New York state senator, introduced legislation last year to ban self-driving vehicles from operating in New York City without being licensed by the city’s taxi and limousine commission. The legislation never made it out of committee.
Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams introduced a testing program that allowed operators such as Waymo to obtain a permit to test a small number of self-driving taxis in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The program ends on April 1.
In a statement to Politico, a spokesperson for Waymo said: “Our operations in New York City are extraordinarily helpful for ensuring our technology is ready for the Big Apple in the future.”
The spokesperson added that Governor Hochul’s proposal to introduce self-driving vehicles outside of the five boroughs “brings Waymo a step closer to serving New Yorkers outside of New York City, and we look forward to exploring more communities throughout the state.”
However, New York Taxi Workers Alliance director Bhairavi Desai struck a different tone.
“It’s hard for me to imagine the governor signing it, given that the governor is going into an election year, trying to position herself as a working-class, lower-middle-class candidate,” she told Politico.
