Driverless cab operator Waymo already has fully-fledged services in several cities across the US, and has plans to drastically increase that service in multiple new locations throughout 2026. In a U-turn on legislation proposed last month, though, one of those places won’t be New York State, as Governor Kathy Hochul has hit the brakes on an initiative that would have allowed Waymo and other companies like it to operate autonomous ride-hailing services outside of New York City.
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‘The Support Was Not There’
Source: Waymo
Plans to allow for a ‘limited deployment’ of autonomous taxi services were first proposed by Hochul in her ‘State of The State’ budget proposal in January. The suggested legislation would have allowed for approved companies to operate across the state, with the exception of New York City itself.
Autonomous vehicle demonstrations have already taken place in New York State, and this legislation, said the proposal, would build on the ‘growing evidence that autonomous vehicles can improve road safety and transportation options when introduced thoughtfully’.
However, just a month later, Bloomberg has had confirmation that the proposal has been dropped. Sean Butler, a spokesperson for the Governor, said in a statement that “it was clear that the support was not there to advance this proposal” following conversations with those involved.
Waymo ‘Disappointed’ but Taxi Drivers Celebrate
Source: Waymo
Waymo was actively eyeing launching its ride-hailing service in the state in 2026, with the company telling Bloomberg it was “disappointed,” and that it’ll “work with the state legislature” in order to try and bring its fleet of driverless cabs to New York in the future.
Conversely, the news was met with a positive reaction from the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the 21,000-strong union that represents NYC’s yellow cab and ride-hailing drivers. While the original legislation specifically excluded New York City, the union was still concerned that driverless cab operation elsewhere in the state would impact jobs in the city.
The union’s executive director, Bhairavi Desai, told Bloomberg that “If drivers lose jobs [to autonomous taxis] upstate, we would expect them to come to the city for work. There may be regulatory boundaries, but there is no practical boundary in this industry. It would be naive for Waymo to be satisfied with a couple of cars in Rochester when a majority of jobs come from the city.”
Expansion Plans Still On
Source: Waymo
Waymo may have hit a hurdle with bringing its operations to New York State, but there are numerous other cities it plans to launch in during 2026. They include multiple cities across the US including Washington, DC, Dallas, Nashville, Las Vegas and San Diego, as well as its first non-US operations in London and Tokyo.
All that’s with a view to the company operating a million driverless taxi trips a week by the end of the year, but it remains to be seen if other places will follow New York’s lead in being a little more cautious about those plans, especially after several recent incidents involving the company’s driverless cars.
