Amazon’s Zoox has grown its operations, testing in 10 U.S. cities as of this week.
Dallas and Phoenix were the most recent additions, where testing began on March 9. These two cities “are both rapidly growing metropolitan areas with high demand for ride-hailing and first- and last-mile connections,” Zoox said in a news release. Other cities in the testing phase include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Dallas; Los Angeles; Miami; Phoenix; Seattle and Washington, D.C.
In these eight cities, Zoox uses retrofitted SUVs with safety drivers to map the city environs, validate its software and conduct research and development. Zoox has “hundreds of test fleet vehicles across our testing operations,” a Zoox spokesperson said in an email.
In Las Vegas and the San Francisco Bay Area, rides are open to the public, with a waitlist for the company’s early rider program in San Francisco, the spokesperson said. There, Zoox deploys about 75 purpose-built, bidirectional vehicles that lack typical driver controls, such as a steering wheel.
Zoox announced today that it entered a multiyear agreement with Uber that will enable riders to reserve Zoox robotaxis via the Uber app beginning later this year in Las Vegas and next year in Los Angeles.
To support its growing list of cities, Zoox opened a third operations center in Scottsdale, Arizona, adding to existing facilities in Las Vegas and the San Francisco Bay Area. These facilities act as command centers for fleet operations, where Zoox staff monitor conditions on the ground, redirect vehicles as needed and address unexpected issues.
Rival Waymo now operates in 10 U.S. cities. Uber is developing its own robotaxis, based on Lucid Gravity electric SUVs, the company announced last year.
