How we know what we say we know

Every number on this site has a source, a verification date and a person responsible for it. This page explains the scoring and the models so you can disagree with us precisely.

NY Readiness Index (0–100)

An editorial score of each operator's ability to launch public service in New York City the day it becomes legal. Four weighted components: regulatory fit (35%) — does the vehicle and sensor stack satisfy the rules New York and New Jersey are actually drafting (redundant sensing, wheelchair accessibility, federal FMVSS compliance or exemption); East Coast footprint (25%) — NYC testing history, Northeast depots, Philadelphia/DC/NJ activity; scale (25%) — live metros, fleet size, weekly rides, launch cadence; exposure (15%) — pending investigations, political opposition specific to the operator, dependence on partners. Scores are re-set quarterly and whenever a material event occurs. Current scores: Waymo 82 · Zoox 52 · Tesla Robotaxi (Model Y) 42 · Nuro × Lucid × Uber 40 · Motional 33 · May Mobility 30 · Tesla Cybercab 28 · Avride 26 · Mobileye × Volkswagen (ID. Buzz AD) 24.

Fare calculator

Yellow taxi uses the NYC TLC Rate of Fare exactly: $3.00 initial charge, $0.70 per ⅕ mile above 12 mph or per 60 seconds below, $0.50 MTA state surcharge, $1.00 improvement surcharge, $2.50 congestion surcharge for trips touching Manhattan south of 96th Street, $0.75 MTA congestion-relief toll for trips entering the zone south of 60th Street, $2.50 weekday rush (4–8 pm) and $1.00 overnight (8 pm–6 am) surcharges, $70 JFK–Manhattan flat fare (+$5 rush), $20 Newark surcharge. We approximate slow-traffic minutes as trip minutes beyond what the distance would take at 15 mph.

UberX and Lyft are modeled, not quoted: a base, per-mile and per-minute structure calibrated to published NYC ranges and TLC minimum-pay rules, plus booking fee, the $2.75 FHV congestion surcharge, $1.50 congestion-relief toll, Black Car Fund and 8.875% sales tax. Lyft is set 8% below UberX, matching RideWise's 2026 17-city spread. A demand selector applies ×1.3 or ×1.6.

Waymo is UberX × 1.13 — Waymo's measured early-2026 average premium ($19.69 vs $17.47 per trip across live cities) — with no tip; where Waymo is booked via Uber, it charges UberX rates. Tesla Robotaxi uses the community-tracked Austin formula (~$3.00 base + $1.40/mile) with New York surcharges and sales tax added. Cybercab is 65% of the Model Y Robotaxi figure, matching launch-week Austin samples ($7.77 vs $12.10), and is doubled for parties of three or more because it seats two. Robotaxi figures are projections and will be replaced with live quotes the day any service opens in New York.

Legislative tracker

Bill data comes from the NY Senate Open Legislation API, LegiScan, the NJ Legislature, PennDOT, the DC Council, and primary press releases. Each item carries a last-action date; the whole set was last verified 2026-09-09. "Positions" (Allow / Regulate / Restrict / Ban) are our reading of the bill's operative effect, not the sponsor's framing.

News feed

Headlines are pulled at each build from TechCrunch, Electrek, The Verge, Streetsblog NYC, Gothamist, Smart Cities Dive and Waymo's blog, filtered for autonomous-vehicle keywords, and deduplicated. Items with a "Why it matters for NY" line were written by us; the rest are unedited headlines linking to the original publisher.

Independence, corrections & referral links

Robotaxi NY accepts no payment from operators, regulators, unions or their agencies for coverage or scores. Sponsorships and referral links are labeled. If you find an error, email corrections@robotaxiny.com; material corrections ship within 24 hours and are noted on the affected page.