Robotaxi operator Zoox has begun allowing select riders to hail its four-passenger, gondola-like vehicles, the Amazon-owned company confirmed to The Standard on Tuesday.
The zone of operation for the trips includes part of SoMa, the Mission, and the Design District, where Zoox has been testing its driverless and steering-wheel-less vehicles since November.
The riders being let off the company’s service waitlist are friends and family members of Zoox employees and will be asked to provide feedback about their robotaxi experience. Currently, the rides are free.
Zoox went live to the public in Las Vegas last month, offering passengers free rides in its vehicles to a limited set of destinations.
“We look forward to scaling this safer, more enjoyable, and truly personal way to travel within Las Vegas and across more U.S. markets in the coming months and years,” Zoox co-founder and chief technology officer Jesse Levinson said.
Zoox did not offer a timeline for its San Francisco expansion. The robotaxi is expected to publicly launch sometime next year, entering a market that has quickly become Waymo-pilled. Zoox will also compete with Tesla’s Robotaxi, which began letting people off a waitlist this summer and is operating from Marin to San Jose with a safety driver in the front seat.
Rider Dyanna Volek hailed a Zoox taxi one night this weekend to test out the “driverless rolling toasters/horseless carriages.”
“The ride was smooth as long as you don’t have more than two people who get carsick riding backwards 🤢,” Volek wrote on Instagram.
This summer, two reporters from The Standard sat backward during a Zoox test ride and regretted the decision. The Zoox app helpfully directs riders to choose the forward-facing side of the robotaxi if they’re prone to motion sickness.
During our reporters’ test ride, the robotaxi experience felt more like an amusement park shuttle than a car, they said. The vehicle boasts wireless phone charges, personal screens for each passenger to adjust the temperature in their quadrant, and twinkly overhead lights that turn on at night.