launcht Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based self-driving software company owned by General Motors Co., has revealed its plans to begin testing in New York City early next year. GM and Cruise are applying to operate in New York under a new pilot program announced Tuesday by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
If the company gets a green signal to move ahead with the proposed plan, it would be the first time a fully self-driving vehicle will be allowed to operate in New York state. The test vehicles will be electric Chevrolet Bolt cars equipped with cameras, radar, sensors and Cruise’s software. GM and Cruise currently have a registered fleet of 100 autonomous Bolts, according to the company’s spokesperson.
If you can handle the pedestrian and bicycle and vehicle traffic in an area as congested as New York City, that’s a pretty big test
-Art Wheaton, Cornell University.
New York is a relative latecomer to autonomous vehicle testing. The densely populated city of more than 8 million people will give the company more unusual situations to test software and accelerate the development of the technology.
