Amazon's self-driving vehicle subsidiary, Zoox, announced plans to launch a driverless taxi service for select members of the public in Austin and Miami later this year.
The company will deploy its box-shaped, steering-wheel-free autonomous vehicles for testing in limited zones within the two cities. Initially, rides will be available only to Zoox employees and their friends and family. This will be followed by the launch of an "Explorer Program," allowing members of the public to join a waitlist for ride experiences.
This marks the latest expansion for the autonomous vehicle company, which began offering free public rides last year in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox, which was acquired by Amazon in 2020, reported that as of late March, it had served 350,000 passenger trips, with approximately 500,000 people on the Explorer Program waitlist.
Zoox is working to catch up with the U.S. leader in autonomous ride-hailing, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet. Waymo currently provides 400,000 paid rides per week across six U.S. metropolitan areas, operates commercially in 10 U.S. cities, and plans to expand to London and Tokyo this year.
In the same announcement, Zoox also revealed plans to expand its service areas in San Francisco and Las Vegas. In San Francisco, the service area will grow to include the waterfront, North Beach, Chinatown, Pacific Heights, and areas along the Embarcadero. Previously, service was limited to the South of Market, Mission, and Design District neighborhoods.
In Las Vegas, Zoox expects to begin offering event shuttle services later this spring near high-traffic venues like the Sphere and T-Mobile Arena. The company also plans to launch passenger routes to Harry Reid International Airport in the coming months.
Zoox is currently testing its self-driving technology in 10 U.S. cities. CEO Aicha Evans stated in an interview that Zoox vehicles will soon begin operating on the streets of Atlanta and Los Angeles, where modified Toyota Highlanders have been gathering data since last year.
A key remaining challenge for Zoox is launching a paid service and manufacturing enough vehicles to meet demand. The company is awaiting approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to deploy up to 2,500 autonomous vehicles on public roads for commercial operations. A 30-day public comment period on the application began on March 10, after which a decision will be announced.
"We are ready to begin charging, especially in Las Vegas, where we have been operating for a long time," Evans said.
Earlier this month, Zoox partnered with Uber to integrate its autonomous vehicles into the Uber app beginning this summer. Uber already collaborates with several autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo, as it positions itself for the future of automated transportation.
Evans noted that the company hopes to "gain a lot of learning" from the Uber partnership but added that, "for the foreseeable future," the Zoox app will remain the primary way to hail its vehicles. She declined to specify what percentage of the fleet would be accessible via the ride-hailing partner.
"This is a long journey. We have been in this space for 12 years, steadfast and persistent," Evans remarked. "You won't wake up one day and see a million autonomous vehicles on the road."
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