The autonomous vehicle company is manually mapping New York City and a small part of New Jersey to document “busy traffic and unique geometric features,” and will use the insights to predict drivers’ actions in other dense urban areas. (The Logic)

Talking point: Waymo will have some support from north of the border in its pursuit. The five vehicles documenting NYC in the first stage of the project are hybrid Chrysler Pacificas, which are built in Windsor, Ont. Waymo itself is backed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which co-led a funding round last year, and Aurora, Ont.-based Magna International, which helps build the autonomous vehicles in Michigan. (Another Magna project with Mobileye also began testing in NYC this year). Meanwhile, General Motors’ Cruise took its co-founder Kyle Vogt on a “fully driverless” ride in San Francisco. As of this year, GM tests some autonomous vehicles in Oshawa, Ont., although it’s unclear if that will include Cruise models.