Tesla tests supervised autonomous Cybercabs on New York City streets

Tesla has begun testing a supervised version of its Cybercab autonomous taxi in New York City, a city transportation department official confirmed on Thursday. Unlike the fully driverless models operating in Texas and Florida, the New York vehicles carry a person in the driver’s seat who can assume control at any time.

The sand-colored Cybercabs, spotted around all five boroughs, bear Texas license plates and a Cybercab logo. The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission noted that state law still requires a human driver to keep a hand on the steering wheel, and no autonomous-vehicle testing permit has been filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The presence of a driver aligns with the department’s “supervised” self-driving system, which permits the vehicle to operate autonomously while allowing manual intervention. The number of Cybercabs in the city and the duration of the trial have not been disclosed.

City officials said they are closely monitoring autonomous-vehicle developments for safety, congestion, emergency response and driver employment impacts. TLC Commissioner Midori Valdivia said, "> We take the arrival of [autonomous vehicle] technology very seriously, and we are closely monitoring AV developments in other cities, including the operational challenges and impacts on safety, congestion, emergency management, and driver pay. Not least among our concerns is the potential impact on the livelihoods of the 180,000 hardworking drivers who keep our city moving."

Industry representatives expressed skepticism. Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said, "> I think the strategy continues to be to make themselves look inevitable and so they’re sprinkling themselves in a number of cities across the country."

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.