Waymo granted permit to begin testing in New York City

NYC as a Testbed: Hard or Overhyped?

• Many see downtown Manhattan (irregular grid, canyons, multi-level roads) as a uniquely hard environment; others argue LA/SF are comparably complex, just different.
• Distinctive NYC traits repeatedly cited: dense and assertive drivers, constant rule-bending (blocking the box, “NY lefts”), heavy jaywalking, sidewalk overflow, chaotic bikes/scooters.
• Some think claims of NYC exceptionalism are exaggerated; others with experience in both coasts insist NYC/NJ driver psychology is qualitatively harsher and more adversarial.

Weather and Winter Driving

• Snow and ice are widely viewed as the real new challenge vs. prior Waymo cities.
• Debate over whether AVs can truly learn localized winter behavior (migrating lanes, drifts, black ice, whiteouts) versus just deciding not to operate in marginal conditions.
• Thread notes prior Waymo testing in Buffalo/Michigan but questions commercial viability of full-winter robustness.

Pedestrians, Game Theory, and “Assertiveness”

• Concern that if robots are strictly lawful, NYC pedestrians will endlessly step in front of them; cars need to “signal willingness” to move or they’ll be stuck.
• Reports from SF/LA that Waymos are already becoming more humanlike and assertive (timing yellows, inching at crosswalks, taking gaps at 4-way stops) but sometimes freeze or create awkward standoffs.
• Some fear humans will “bully” AVs—cutting them off, refusing to let them merge—unless they become more aggressive.

Safety, Enforcement, and Law

• Many riders say Waymos feel consistently safer and more predictable than average human drivers, though occasionally weird (odd routes, strange stopping points, rare dangerous edge cases).
• Broader concern: correlated software failures vs. uncorrelated human errors.
• Long subthread on decayed traffic enforcement, red-light cameras, and whether automated evidence from AV sensors should be used for mass ticketing; opinions split between safety gains and dystopian surveillance.
• One line of criticism: AV-caused crashes may be treated differently in law, effectively putting owners in a special category.

Transit, Taxis, and Economics

• Mixed views on urban impact: some see Waymo as “modern transit” that complements or substitutes for weak bus/rail; others insist real solution is walkability, bikes, and transit, not more cars.
• Concerns in NYC about medallions, congestion pricing, and whether Waymo will worsen traffic or must buy into capped fleets.
• Multiple riders strongly prefer Waymo over Uber (no tipping drama, no bad drivers, consistent experience), but some feel guilty about displacing human drivers.

Long-Term Urban Effects

• Hopes: calmer traffic, fewer human-caused deaths, eventual restriction of human driving to niche/recreational contexts, rural coverage where taxis are scarce.
• Fears: vandalism, political backlash if early deployments snarl traffic, corporate resistance to street pedestrianization/“low-traffic neighborhoods,” and further entrenchment of car-dependence in a city that could be bike- and transit-first.