Albany Needs This Ride—And So Do Its Restaurants
My family has served this community and its visitors for over 4 decades. I know this city’s rhythm: I know which Tuesday nights will be quiet, which Palace Theatre events will flood the streets, and how difficult it is to convince a loyal regular from Lansingburgh or Loudonville to make the trip downtown when the logistics of “getting home” remain a stressful question mark. That uncertainty is a quiet toxin for the local hospitality industry.
Let’s be direct: Albany’s rideshare, and what’s left of the taxi infrastructure, is currently in a state of crisis. If you open a ride-hailing app at 10 p.m. on a weekday, you aren’t just looking at a wait, you’re looking at a gamble. The same can be said for trying to book a car for an early morning flight, or that last Amtrak train into Rensselaer.
Data reflects what we feel on the ground. Across the Capital Region, wait times for rideshares often exceed 15 to 20 minutes during off-peak hours—nearly double the average of major metropolitan hubs. Upstate cities like Albany suffer from a “friction rate” that is significantly higher than the national average. When a car finally does appear, surge pricing can frequently double the cost of a meal, turning a planned night out into a source of frustration. For a city striving to be a premier dining and entertainment destination, this is a structural failure we can no longer ignore.
This is why I am lending my full support to legislation introduced by Senator Patricia Fahy (S.10473) and Assemblyman John McDonald. Their bill proposes a carefully regulated autonomous vehicle (AV) ride-hailing pilot program for Albany and Rensselaer Counties. This isn’t about replacing drivers; it’s about testing how autonomous vehicles can work in a city like ours and putting Albany on the map as a place that leads rather than waits.
I realize the phrase “autonomous vehicle” can spark skepticism. However, these are not experiments—they are proven technologies. For example, Waymo, a leader in this field, has logged over 200 million autonomous miles with safety records that consistently outperform human drivers. In fact, Waymo is thirteen times safer than a human driver when it comes to serious injury crashes – or worse. The Fahy-McDonald bill mandates strict adherence to federal safety standards, ensuring this is a thoughtful pilot rather than a leap into the unknown.
We must also address the “Albany Parking Paradox.” While our city offers an abundance of free garage and street parking after 5:00 p.m. (Thank you Albany Parking Authority!), the mere prospect of finding a spot creates a very real “parking anxiety” for visitors. Research shows that many customers will abandon a trip to a restaurant if they believe the arrival process will be difficult, so when one of our many world-class arts and entertainment venues brings throngs of people downtown, those “abundant” spaces disappear instantly.
For the couple in Delmar who loves our food but dreads the “circling the block” ritual, an autonomous ride isn’t just a convenience—it’s the reason they finally make that reservation.
The business case is simple: reliable transportation equals economic vitality. It means birthday parties that don’t end early because of a lack of options. It means a group of friends ordering that second bottle of wine because they know a safe, consistent ride is seconds away.
Some will suggest we wait for other cities to lead. But Albany has waited long enough. If this bill moves forward, we could become the first city in the Northeast to pilot this technology, establishing Albany as a model for how mid-size cities responsibly embrace what’s coming. We are the capital of New York, it’s time for us to lead and to no longer be led.
Albany is ready. Our businesses are ready. Let’s give our community a reason—and a reliable ride—to come back downtown.
Dominick Purnomo, Owner, Yono’s & dp An American Brasserie
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