New York’s new mayor halts autonomous taxi trial, reigniting debate over driverless cars

The article examines the growing push toward autonomous vehicles and the obstacles still facing that future, despite companies such as Waymo testing driverless cars in many cities around the world. It notes that fully autonomous cars are still stuck behind many stages of regulation before people can buy a vehicle that can pick them up and return them without anyone behind the wheel.

Against that backdrop, New York City’s newly elected mayor has decided to put the brakes on a local autonomous taxi experiment. According to the report, the move was not driven by concerns about safety or regulation, but by a broader decision to stop the test for other reasons.

The discussion is presented as part of N12’s “One Day” segment with Danny Kushmaro and Elad Shmichov, alongside Gil Melamed, editor of the website TheCar. The program frames the issue as a wider argument about autonomous cars, robotaxis, and the future of driving itself.