Zoox is bringing its purpose-built robotaxis to Austin, Texas and Miami, Florida. This expansion comes after almost two years of operating test vehicles in those cities. The company announced plans to start offering rides in both locations later this year as part of its early-rider program.
The company is also expanding its service areas in San Francisco and Las Vegas. In San Francisco, the service area is quadrupling in size with a focus on the eastern half of the city for participants in the early-rider program. In Las Vegas, where free rides are available to anyone with the Zoox app, the company is doubling the number of destinations. New stops will include The Sphere, T-Mobile Arena, and the Las Vegas Convention Center. Zoox already serves locations like Area15, Top Golf, and Fashion Show Las Vegas. Additionally, Zoox will begin testing its robotaxi at the Las Vegas airport in preparation for future service.
Currently, Zoox can only offer free rides due to federal restrictions, but it is working to remove them. The company has made progress, as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began taking public comments this month on Zoox’s application for exemptions from certain Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. These exemptions are needed to launch commercial services with paid rides. Zoox is optimistic about receiving them and recently announced a partnership with Uber. This partnership will make Zoox’s robotaxis available on the Uber app in Las Vegas later this year.
Zoox shared that its robotaxis have driven nearly two million autonomous miles and carried over 350,000 riders to date. The company has been collecting rider feedback, which has led to new features like Bluetooth audio connectivity in the robotaxis, called ZooxCast, and a Find My Zoox feature to help riders locate their hailed vehicle in busy areas.
The Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company is not expanding as quickly as Alphabet-owned Waymo, which plans to launch commercial services in 20 new cities globally this year. Nevertheless, Zoox is having a busy year. It recently began mapping the streets of Dallas and Phoenix ahead of testing in those cities. Zoox is already testing in Washington, D.C., Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.