New York’s Robotaxi Plan Pulled in Blow to Waymo Expansion (2)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has pulled a proposal that would have allowed for commercial robotaxi services outside New York City, a blow to Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo as it seeks to aggressively expand its driverless fleet this year.

The proposal, which Hochul had included in her budget proposal last month, would have allowed autonomous-vehicle companies such as Waymo to apply for permission to pilot their services without human operators in the vehicle. The decision to withdraw the plan was confirmed Thursday by the governor’s office to Bloomberg News.

“Based on conversations with stakeholders, including in the legislature, it was ...