New York withdraws autonomous taxi plan, Waymo expansion faces setback—Bloomberg

Investing.com – New York Governor Kathy Hochul withdrew a proposal that would have allowed commercial autonomous taxi services to operate outside New York City, dealing a setback to Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) aggressive expansion plans this year.

The proposal was initially included in Hochul’s budget plan last month, which would have enabled autonomous vehicle companies like Waymo to apply for permits to test their driverless services without human operators in the vehicles. According to Bloomberg, the governor’s office confirmed the decision to withdraw the plan on Thursday.

Hochul’s spokesperson, Sean Butler, told Bloomberg, “Based on discussions with stakeholders, including the legislature, it was clear that the proposal did not garner enough support to move forward.”

Waymo expressed disappointment in a statement to Bloomberg. The company said, “We are committed to bringing our services to New York and will work with state legislators to advance this issue.”

This development hampers Waymo’s ambitious goal of achieving over one million weekly paid autonomous taxi rides in the U.S. by the end of 2026. The company has announced plans to expand this year in 20 cities across the U.S. and internationally, including Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando, Nashville, and London.

Although Hochul’s initial proposal excluded New York City itself, approval to operate in other parts of New York State would bring Waymo closer to entering one of the world’s largest ride-hailing markets.

Following the news, Alphabet Inc.'s stock price fell by 0.2%, while Tesla’s stock price declined by 0.6%.

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