Dive Brief:
- Amazon robotaxi unit Zoox announced Thursday it will add Austin, Texas, and Miami as its fourth and fifth public testing locations.
- Zoox will deploy its retrofitted Toyota Highlander fleet with safety drivers on predetermined testing routes — rather than offering public rides with its purpose-built autonomous robotaxis — to gather “valuable insights and feedback,” according to a blog post.
- “We’re laying the foundations for our autonomous ride-hailing service in new cities across the US. Austin and Miami offer key learning opportunities that will support the continued growth and refinement of our testing and service,” Ron Thaniel, senior director of policy and regulatory affairs at Zoox, said in the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Zoox is targeting San Francisco and Las Vegas as its first commercial markets after launching testing there in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Its purpose-built robotaxi made its debut on public roads in February 2023, offering a shuttle service for its employees in Foster City, California.
The company called its latest expansion to two new states a “significant step forward.” Both Austin and Miami offer new challenges for the robotaxi unit: Austin is home to horizontal traffic lights, traffic lights hanging on wires, railway crossings and thunderstorms, while Miami has traffic lights that are suspended diagonally across intersections, according to the post.
Zoox previously said rain can be “tricky” for autonomous vehicles, as its lidar system may pick up on reflections in puddles, among other distractions. The company’s AI is already using the data from its autonomous fleet in rainy Seattle to make improvements, and it anticipates the data collected from the new test cities will help its vehicles better navigate in challenging conditions.
The expansion comes as Zoox is the target of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation following two incidents involving its vehicles. The vehicles “unexpectedly braked suddenly,” resulting in rear-end collisions in each incident. Both accidents occurred in April: one in Spring Valley, Nevada, and the other in San Francisco.
NHTSA’s probe into Zoox will evaluate its automated driving system performance, particularly relating to the collisions, the vehicles’ behavior in crosswalks around vulnerable road users, such as motorcyclists, and in other similar rear-end collision scenarios.
AVs continue to fall under tough scrutiny: The NHSTA is investigating Zoox competitor Waymo, as well as Ford and Tesla over their respective self-driving systems.
