A new Waymo-backed advocacy group couched in the language of traffic safety and stocked with ex-elected officials and other public sector heavyweights launched last week to support bringing self-driving cars to New York state — after Gov. Hochul backed organized labor and nixed her plans to legalize them early in last year’s budget negotiations.
A Better Road Forward, a 501(c)(4) that describes itself as a “statewide coalition of New Yorkers,” frames itself as “an educational resource and a platform for community engagement” as Hochul and state legislators weigh leting “autonomous vehicle” companies like Waymo expand beyond driver-monitored testing currently underway in New York City and Buffalo.
“This campaign is about bringing New Yorkers into the conversation about the future of autonomous passenger vehicles on our streets,” said Basil Seggos, the group’s advisory board chair and the former commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, in a statement announcing the new group…