General Motors plans to become the first company to test self-driving cars in New York City, in some of the world’s worst traffic, as traditional automakers battle technology titans to take the lead in the development of autonomous vehicles. The Detroit-based automaker, whose shares have risen 25 per cent in recent weeks on investor expectations that it could beat rivals to the introduction of a mass market autonomous vehicle service, will test Chevrolet Bolt fully autonomous electric cars in its most complex market so far: lower Manhattan. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said GM and Cruise Automation, the autonomous car developer bought by the Detroit icon last year, have applied to be the first in the state to test fully self-driving cars. All testing will include an engineer in the driver’s seat to monitor and evaluate performance, and a second person in the passenger seat, he said. Automotive industry analysts said New York’s challenging road conditions, which include not just heavy traffic but also pedestrians, cyclists, winter weather and some of the world’s most aggressive drivers, could significantly advance the development of the technology in real world conditions. So far, Cruise Automation has been testing autonomous Bolts on public roads in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and the Detroit area.