New York City is allowing the robotaxi company Waymo to test a few of its autonomous vehicles in Manhattan and
downtown Brooklyn, officials said Friday as the technology picks up in popularity in other metro areas.
The company will start with a pilot program to test up to eight autonomous vehicles in the city until late September, officials said. The vehicles won't be picking u
p passengers, since that's not currently allowed by local rules, and are required to have a test vehicle operator behind the wheel while they zip around the city's busy streets.
Waymo’s robotaxis are already in place in the U.S. cities such as Austin, Texas; Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles
es, and Atlanta. Annabel Chang, a policy head for the company, said the company is “pleased to have reached this next step in New York City.”
New York officials last year launched a set of safety requirements around the testing of autonomous vehicles
cles, saying that the city “presents some of the most challenging urban street environments” for the autonomous vehicles.
In a statement Friday, Mayor Eric Adams said “as we continue to implement responsible innovation, we will always prioritize street safety.”
Photo: A Waymo self-driving vehicle sits curbside, Dec. 16, 2022, at the Sky Harbor International Airport Sky Train facility in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
But on Monday, the nation’s environment agency told the venture partners that the fine stands and that they now have 10 days to appeal against it, according to people
with knowledge of the matter. The plan is to appeal but, if they don't, then payment will be required in 30 days
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s, they said, asking not to be identified discussing specifics of the case.
NCOC said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by the decision, taken by the Atyrau Regional Ecological
Department, part of the environment-protection ministry, in relation to what the operator called an “unprecedented” fine.
The decision runs counter to recent court rulings that highlight serious flaws in the regional ecological author
ity's process and also emphasized the production sharing agreement with the state, in addition to violating both national and international law, NCOC said.
It’s unclear on what authority the government has now pressed ahead with the fine, but the environment protection ministry said on Aug. 15 that its Atyrau department was addressing “procedural” shortcomings identified previously by the court.