←back to thread

Waymo granted permit to begin testing in New York City

(www.cnbc.com)
597 points achristmascarl | 5 comments | 22 Aug 25 17:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
TulliusCicero ◴[22 Aug 25 17:30 UTC] No.44987256[source]▶
It's fascinating seeing all the comments elsewhere anytime Waymo starts testing in another city along the lines of, "ah, but how will they handle X, Y, and Z here?? Checkmate, robots!" despite having already launched service in several other cities.

Granted, NYC is the biggest city in the US, so maybe that sort of reaction is more reasonable there than when people in Dallas or Boston do it.

replies(12): >>44987307 #>>44987316 #>>44987339 #>>44987341 #>>44987366 #>>44987502 #>>44987538 #>>44987567 #>>44988386 #>>44988799 #>>44989311 #>>44995824 #
testfrequency ◴[22 Aug 25 17:40 UTC] No.44987366[source]▶
Since Waymo is very reliable in LA and SF, you will be just fine in NYC.

Your grid system is far less of a challenge than the amount of hills, twists, narrow streets and low visibility back streets in California.

I genuinely think the most complicated challenge for Waymo in NYC will be…winter snow and ice.

replies(10): >>44987484 #>>44987621 #>>44987778 #>>44987823 #>>44987839 #>>44988122 #>>44988132 #>>44988193 #>>44988207 #>>44988541 #
1. infecto ◴[22 Aug 25 17:50 UTC] No.44987484[source]▶
I would argue those two areas are very different though. The Bay Area is not as dense or as many aggressive drivers as NYC.
replies(1): >>44987906 #
2. testfrequency ◴[22 Aug 25 18:22 UTC] No.44987906[source]▶
My point wasn’t to say they are the same, more that SF and LA (I would guess) have covered and defeated almost every single challenge and obstacle for an urban environment (sans..weather).

LA also has far denser areas than SF, places like DTLA and Koreatown are more dense than most boroughs in NYC (sans Manhattan).

replies(1): >>44988394 #
3. infecto ◴[22 Aug 25 18:56 UTC] No.44988394[source]▶
My point was that it will be interesting to see how well it works in NYC where the only way to drive is aggressively in city streets breaking the rules. LA has its share of aggressive driving but as someone who has driven in both, NYC felt like I had to break the rules to go anywhere, LA not so much.

Hard to really compare a tiny piece of LA and say it’s more dense and compare it to borough that is in the same range but also magnitudes larger total pop.

replies(1): >>44989286 #
4. kenhwang ◴[22 Aug 25 20:15 UTC] No.44989286{3}[source]▶
Not sure why you have the impression Waymos follow written driving rules. Here in LA they break every rule that LA drivers would with the aggressiveness to match. It really does seem like they try to make them drive as "human" as possible, with all the typical behavior found in the locale. I can't imagine it'd be any different in NYC.
replies(1): >>44990575 #
5. infecto ◴[22 Aug 25 22:20 UTC] No.44990575{4}[source]▶
My experiences have been different with Waymo. It drives with far less aggression than NYC, like I already said. It will be interesting to see as I see NYC as an interesting challenge.