- Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi company is gearing up to expand its service area.
- The company will open its waitlists in Austin and Miami, with limited rides scheduled to begin later this year.
- The purpose-built driverless pods will also be available in more areas in San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Zoox, Amazon’s robotaxi company, will deploy its driverless electric pods in Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida, later this year, adding two more cities to its service area. What’s more, the purpose-built self-driving EVs will start reaching more areas of San Francisco and Las Vegas, as the startup expands its footprint in the two cities it’s already operating in.
In Austin, where rival robotaxi operators Tesla and Waymo are already offering rides, Zoox is targeting a soft rollout at first, with availability limited to company employees, their families, and friends. The waitlist will open soon, and the company’s Zoox Explorers early rider program will launch in Austin and Miami later this year, the startup said.
Amazon’s robotaxi venture has been testing its technology on the streets of both cities with retrofitted vehicles since 2024, and it’s now confident enough to launch a small-scale test fleet with its bespoke robotaxis that have automatic sliding doors, opposing bench seats, and no steering wheel or pedals.
In Las Vegas, Zoox’s service area will expand to include the Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and high-traffic events at Sphere and T-Mobile Arena. Since launching public rides in September of last year, Zoox has more than doubled its service area in Sin City, adding the Las Vegas Convention Center and a majority of the big hotels along the Strip.
In San Francisco, the company plans to quadruple the geofenced area where it offers rides to waitlist members. Zoox said its autonomous EVs will reach a large portion of the eastern half of the city, including the Marina, North Beach, and Chinatown. Pacific Heights and the Embarcadero will also be included in the expanded service area.
Additionally, the startup is improving the way it calculates the estimated time of arrival, as well as offering pre-booking estimates that give riders a clearer picture of their journey before they commit. The vehicles will also allow riders to connect their devices via Bluetooth to listen to their favorite music, in addition to the existing curated Stingray Music playlists. In crowded pickup zones, riders will be able to use the “Find My Zoox” feature that activates a distinct lighting and sound signature to make it easier to identify their specific robotaxi.
Since launching limited rides in Las Vegas less than a year ago, Zoox’s driverless pods have driven nearly two million miles and carried over 350,000 passengers, the company said. The startup is currently testing its technology on retrofitted vehicles in Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Dallas, and Phoenix.
