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Tesla Robotaxi (Model Y) in New York

No NY testing application on record. FSD (Supervised) is legal in customer-owned cars in NY; unsupervised robotaxi service is not.

NY readiness
42

A conventional vehicle with a wheel, so no federal design exemption is needed — only NY law. But camera-only sensing faces explicit hostility in NJ and skepticism among NY legislators.

Autonomy
L4 (geofenced)

Unsupervised in 6 metros; safety-driver / employee-only in Bay Area

Scale
375 Model Ys registered in Texas (Sept 2, 2026); active daily fleet estimated well below registered capacity

Not disclosed

Sensors
Cameras only

Would be excluded by NJ A3968 as drafted.

Vehicle & service

Vehicles: Model Y (FSD Unsupervised)

How you hail it: Tesla Robotaxi app

Pricing: Approximately $3.00 base + $1.40/mile in Austin (community-tracked); typically undercuts UberX on short trips.

Safety record: Camera-only; Tesla reports crash rates per mile but does not publish third-party-audited rider-only data.

Footprint

Live today: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Orlando

Announced / next: San Francisco Bay Area (supervised), Phoenix, Las Vegas, Additional Sun Belt metros

The New York question

New York: No NY testing application on record. FSD (Supervised) is legal in customer-owned cars in NY; unsupervised robotaxi service is not.

New Jersey: NJ A3968 would exclude camera-only systems from any NJ pilot.

A conventional vehicle with a wheel, so no federal design exemption is needed — only NY law. But camera-only sensing faces explicit hostility in NJ and skepticism among NY legislators.

Verified 2026-09-09. Official site: www.tesla.com/robotaxi

What has to change for Tesla Robotaxi (Model Y) to operate in NYC
  1. Albany amends VTL §1226 or passes an AV pilot that includes NYC (see tracker).
  2. NYC DOT issues a testing permit and the TLC creates a license category — S10413 would restrict it to medallion owners.
  3. NJ A3968's sensor rule does not become the regional template.
  4. Labor deal: every live proposal ties approval to driver-transition funding or union sign-off.
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