While recent research suggests autonomous robotaxis may be safer than the average human driver, a new study suggests these driverless vehicles could spike congestion in New York City while bringing only “limited safety benefits.”
That’s because in a city like New York, robotaxis would actually be replacing yellow cab, Uber, and Lyft drivers. These professional for-hire drivers are already about 14 times safer than the city’s average driver, according to a July 20 report from the Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program at Hunter College, published with advocacy group Open Plans.
While the autonomous vehicle company Waymo has recently boasted a lower crash rate than human drivers, citing a new analysis by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, researchers suggest New York City needs its own data before autonomous vehicles arrive at scale.
