---
title: "General Motors Bringing Self-Driving Cars to New York City’s Mean Streets"
description: "How do you say \"Hey, I'm walkin' heah!\" in binary?"
date: "2017-10-17"
modified: "2017-10-17"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/15200/general-motors-bringing-self-driving-cars-to-new-york-citys-mean-streets"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "autonomous vehicles"
  - "Bolt"
  - "General Motors"
  - "New York City"
  - "self-driving cars"
---

# General Motors Bringing Self-Driving Cars to New York City’s Mean Streets

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/10/chevrolet-bolt-self-driving-car.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Over the last year or so, General Motors's fleet of self-driving cars has cut its digital teeth on the roads in and around San Francisco, a challenging environment packed with hills, traffic, [and the occasional raccoon](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9562/watch-an-autonomous-chevy-bolt-drive-itself-around-at-night>). But early next year, GM intends to deploy a handful of its autonomous Chevrolet Bolts to the meanest streets this side of 1970s-era New York City: modern-day New York City.

Cruise Automation—the General's autonomous vehicle development division—intends to deploy a fleet of the self-driving electric Chevys within a five-square mile section of lower Manhattan, [according to *The Wall Street Journal*](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-to-test-fleet-of-electric-cars-in-new-york-1508212801?mod=e2tw>), which spoke with Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt. The company will also open a research facility in NYC as part of the project, and is in the process of mapping out the Manhattan zone where the self-driving cars will operate.

Vogt told the *Journal* that deploying the autonomous Bolts in New York City would give the cars (and their engineers) a chance to tackle new challenges less likely to be found in the Bay Area, such as inclement winter weather and[the *Max Max*-ian drivers that call New York City home](<https://www.thedrive.com/video/7331/bicycle-commuting-in-brooklyn-is-not-smart>).

"Anyone else who’s driven in New York City knows that it’s going to present some unique challenges,” Vogt told *WSJ*.

The state of [New York passed a law authorizing the use of self-driving cars on public roadways earlier this year](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/10170/new-york-will-accept-applications-for-self-driving-car-tests>), prompting [Audi to quickly launch a small-scale autonomous vehicle test program](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/11499/first-self-driving-audi-in-new-york-hits-the-streets-of-albany>). Still, that program was restricted to the roads around the capital of Albany, a city 85 times smaller than New York City.

As in San Francisco, Phoenix, and the other parts of American GM is testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads, the self-driving Bolts will have a driver behind the wheel at all times while navigating New York's roadways—both to take over in case the system requires human intervention, and because the carmaker still hasn't figured out a way to make the Bolts autonomously flip off other drivers.

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)