Zoox, Amazon’s self-driving unit, is planning to expand its robotaxi service in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and begin testing in Austin and Miami.
The company said it will start testing its purpose-built robotaxis in “a small area” of both Austin and Miami. The vehicles have no steering wheel or pedals.
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Zoox CEO Aicha Evans said: “This expansion marks a significant step forward for Zoox and is driven by the insights from our early deployments.
“This is our year of growth. We are actively implementing learnings to confidently and safely scale our robotaxi service across the country and bring our differentiated experience to even more riders.”
At first, access in the two new cities will be limited to employees and their family and friends.
Zoox said it will later open its Explorer programme, allowing the public to join a waitlist for rides.
Zoox, acquired by Amazon in 2020, has been widening access over the past year. It began offering free driverless rides around the Las Vegas Strip and in select San Francisco neighbourhoods last year.
As of late March, the company said it had served 350,000 riders. It also said about 500,000 people had joined its waitlist.
Zoox said rider feedback is driving several updates. These include an updated ETA engine to improve precision and pre-booking estimates to give riders a clearer view of their journey before confirming.
It is also adding new service and technical capabilities aimed at reducing wait times, improving ETA accuracy and supporting smoother driving.
In San Francisco, Zoox said its coverage will quadruple. The expanded area will include the Marina, North Beach, Chinatown, Pacific Heights and the Embarcadero, adding to its existing service in SoMa and the Mission and Design districts.
In Las Vegas, Zoox expects to begin offering rides to high-traffic events later this spring, including venues such as the Sphere and T-Mobile Arena.
It also plans to add service to Harry Reid International Airport in the coming months.
Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson said: “Since our inception in 2014, we’ve strongly believed that a purpose-built approach is the best way to solve the challenge of autonomy and offer a wonderful experience.
“As Zoox becomes a part of our riders’ daily lives, it is clearer than ever that purpose-built is the future.
“We are excited to build on this momentum and expand what’s possible with the unique product our customers are beginning to know and love.”
