Waymo is taking its first official step toward offering its self-driving ride-hailing service in New York City. The company announced on Wednesday that it has applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Manhattan—though with a trained safety driver behind the wheel.
This move marks Waymo’s return to New York after a brief data collection exercise in 2021, when its now-retired Chrysler Pacifica minivans manually navigated the city’s streets for mapping and software evaluation. The new effort represents the company’s first formal attempt at laying the groundwork for eventual commercial deployment in the country’s most populous and congested urban center.
“While we won’t be in New York full-time yet, we have every intention of bringing our fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the city in the future,” Waymo said in a post on X. “We’re working toward that goal in a few key ways.”
New York, we’re coming back to the Big Apple next month! We want to serve New Yorkers in the future, and we’re working towards that goal. Here’s how: pic.twitter.com/wOLEIhYilz
— Waymo (@Waymo) June 18, 2025
New York’s Regulatory Roadblocks
Under current New York State law, all vehicles must have a human in the driver’s seat with at least one hand (or prosthetic) on the steering wheel at all times. This effectively blocks any driverless operation from launching in the state.
In response, Waymo says it is actively lobbying for legal changes to allow for vehicles to operate without a human behind the wheel.
In the meantime, the company’s NYC test fleet will consist of manually operated Jaguar I-Pace vehicles equipped with the latest Waymo Driver technology. The program is intended to help the company gather data, refine its systems, and begin building public trust ahead of a broader launch.
Waymo’s Expansion
Waymo currently offers more than 250,000 paid autonomous rides each week in four U.S. cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin. The company is also preparing to launch fully driverless services in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., in 2026.
The company is also planning to significantly expand its fleet of Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, adding 2,000 new units out of its new factory in Arizona.
Just this week Waymo announced an expansion of its service areas in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
