Imagine a self-driving car trying to make a right turn at 96th and Broadway. The light turns green, but pedestrians keep streaming across 96th Street. The Waymo waits patiently. The light turns red. More waiting. Then, before it even changes back to green, people are already crossing again. As one local observer joked, “It’ll be there for weeks.” This scenario perfectly captures the unique challenge facing Waymo as it begins testing its autonomous vehicles in the most demanding urban environment in America.

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