NY governor says he wants to bring Israeli self-driving tech to NYC’s subways

In Israel for a brief 24-hour visit focusing on economic cooperation and solidarity, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo says today he is interested in applying Israeli driverless vehicle technology to New York City’s train and subway system — a project he says could be worth over a billion dollars.

“New York has probably the largest subway system in the United States of America, if not the world – 600 miles of underground track. We have been trying for years to get state of the art technology to guide the navigation of the trains,” Cuomo says at a gathering at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.

He says he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the project in their meeting earlier today.

“It’s over a billion dollar product that we’re willing to purchase, so the economic benefits are amazing. And whoever develops this software system, if you have an application for the New York City subway system, then you can sell it to every train station around the country and around the world,” he says.

In an earlier meeting with Cuomo, President Reuven Rivlin called him “a true friend” to Israel, and thanked him for signing an executive order to withhold funds from supporters of the anti-Israel boycott movement.

— Yaakov Schwartz