Self-driving vehicle startup Zoox has launched its autonomous cab service in San Francisco, California, and expanded its operation in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company announced on Tuesday.
“This marks our entrance with the robotaxi into our second commercial market,” Zoox CEO, Aicha Evans, said in a press release. “Since 2017, our test fleet has autonomously navigated San Francisco streets with a safety driver. Now that we’ve passed all critical safety measures, we are excited to begin testing our robotaxi in this wonderful city.”
The robotaxi service will begin operating in the city’s downtown SoMa neighborhood, though it will initially not be available to members of the public. Instead, the autonomous cabs will only be available to Zoox employees as the company works to refine the ride experience. During this period, the taxis will be overseen by a safety driver. How that will work in a vehicle without a steering wheel remains to be seen. As the company works out the rideshare programs kinks, it will eventually expand its geofence to include more San Francisco neighborhoods.
Zoox has similarly expanded the service area its robotaxis can operate in Las Vegas. The company plans to begin offering rides to the Las Vegas public beginning in 2025. Zoox is also working to bring its robotaxis to Austin and Miami, beginning in small test areas around both cities’ business and entertainment districts.
“Zoox is the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls,” Jesse Levinson, CTO of Zoox, said in a statement. “This expansion marks our third city for our robotaxi operations, following Foster City and Las Vegas. We’ve rigorously tested and validated our AI stack in multiple cities over the last seven years in preparation for the deployment of our robotaxi fleet. From day one, our robotaxis will be leveraging a deep history and understanding of this area.”
Zoox’s rival, and industry leader, Waymo also announced on Tuesday that it will begin offering rides in its Level 4 robotaxis to the public throughout an 80-square mile stretch of Los Angeles, California that includes downtown, Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood, and West Hollywood. No longer will you need to sign up and wait for your chance on a waitlist that exceeds 300,000 applicants. Instead, you can simply download the Waymo One app to hail a ride in its service area.
Waymo also offers its taxis in Phoenix, though currently only for getting riders to and from the airport. The company plans to expand to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia in 2025, through a partnership with Uber.
Source: The Robot Report and TechCrunch
