Zoox and Waymo Expand Self-Driving Taxi Services in Major U.S. Cities

Waymo and Zoox Bring Self-Driving Cabs to More Cities

Setting Up a Mobile VR Office is Cheaper Than Ever, Here's How to Get Started 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. ✕ Remove Ads "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. ✕ Remove Ads 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." ✕ Remove Ads 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 ✕ Remove Ads

Zoox begins testing its unique robotaxis in San Francisco

Autonomous robotaxi developer Zoox has shared its latest progress update, which includes expansions into its second commercial market -- San Francisco. The company has begun testing its proprietary robotaxis in the region and already has some specific neighborhoods in mind where it will want to begin offering driverless rides. Zoox is a decade-old robotaxi developer taking a unique design approach to bringing driverless technology to the masses. Rather than converting existing EVs into robotaxis like its competitors, Zoox has designed and rolled out an entirely purpose-built EV without pedals or a steering wheel. In February 2023, Zoox initially began rides on public roads in Foster City, California - marking the first time a purpose-built autonomous vehicle without any manual controls had done so. In June of that same year, the company began public rides to Las Vegas in preparation for a full commercial launch. That initial route in Vegas consisted of a one-mile loop near Zoox's headquarters, offering the ability to transport as many as four passengers at speeds up to 35 mph (although the driverless EVs were designed to achieve speeds up to 75 mph). At the time, we reported that Zoox employees would conduct initial test rides before "expanding over the coming months." Earlier this year, we reported that Zoox had expanded its Las Vegas geofence to a five-mile route from headquarters to the south end of the strip, with multiple routes available in between at speeds up to 45 mph. Today, Zoox provided a fresh progress update, sharing that it has begun testing its robotaxis in San Francisco before offering driverless rides to those local residents. As you may have seen on Reddit, Zoox robotaxis were recently spotted navigating the streets of San Francisco, hinting at the possibility of commercial operations beginning in the Bay Area. Zoox confirmed such plans in a blog post earlier today. Zoox shared that it has been testing its autonomous driving fleet in San Francisco since 2017, but always with a driver present. Per company CEO Aicha Evans, its bespoke driverless robotaxi has passed all necessary and critical safety measures to begin testing officially. Zoox shared that initial testing will begin amongst employees only for validation purposes, similar to its initial operations in Foster City, California, about 30 minutes south. The robotaxi developer has chosen the SoMa neighborhood near Union Square and Oracle Park but said that it will expand its geofence to include additional neighborhoods as testing progresses. Per Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson: Zoox is the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls. 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. In addition to the foundational tests to enable commercial operations in San Francisco, Zoox also shared details of its progress in Nevada, which now operates within an expanded geofence area that now includes the entire Las Vegas Strip and surrounding areas. Like California, Zoox rides in Sin City are reserved for employees only for now but will soon be expanded to its staff's families and friends. Additionally, the company shared plans for a new "Zoox Explorers" program rolling out in early 2025, offering rides to non-employees without charging for the service. Full commercial operations for paid public rides are expected to begin in Las Vegas later in 2025. Zoox did not share a timeline as to when commercial robotaxi operations could begin in San Francisco.

No Steering Wheel? Zoox Self-Driving Cars Get OK to Operate in San Francisco

Zoox autonomous cars are hitting the streets of San Francisco with no steering wheel, driver's seat, or pedals. Although the Amazon-backed company has been operating in the city since 2017, a human driver has been in the vehicle, ready to intervene if necessary. Zoox has now "passed all critical safety measures," and the vehicles are free to operate themselves. They qualify as Level 3 on the autonomy scale, a step above the Level 2 Waymo cars that are also on the road in San Francisco as a paid rideshare service. For now, only Zoox employees will be taking autonomous rides. The launch will start in the SoMa neighborhood and expand to more areas of the city if all goes well. Zoox makes traditional-looking vehicles with a steering wheel, largely for testing purposes, but its claim to fame is a boxy car that hit the road last year. These are the only vehicles operating on public roads "without traditional manual controls," says Jesse Levinson, Zoox co-founder and CTO. The company fleet also includes traditional-looking SUVs with a driver's seat, steering wheel, and pedals, presumably for testing with a safety driver. Zoox is already testing on the streets of Las Vegas, particularly around The Strip. Last week, it expanded the area in which its vehicles operate in the city, or the "geofence," to gather more data to train its AI models. It plans to open up rides there to public passengers in 2025. "The data we gather in Las Vegas will be crucial for improving our service even further," Zoox says. "What Zoox learns in Vegas won't stay in Vegas." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating two minor crashes involving Zoox vehicles that stopped abruptly. Another NHTSA probe into Tesla's Level 2 self-driving autonomous system is also ongoing. Tesla hopes to begin operating its robotaxi service in California and Texas next year, though it has not yet gained regulatory approval.