Zoox, Amazon’s self-driving unit, is bringing its autonomous vehicles to more cities.
The self-driving technology company announced Wednesday that it plans to begin testing in Austin and Miami this summer. The two cities mark Zoox’s fourth and fifth test cities, following Las Vegas, San Francisco and Seattle.
The news comes as federal regulators step up scrutiny of self-driving car companies like Waymo and Zoox, which are under investigation for safety issues. Earlier this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requested more information from Zoox to aid its investigation into rear-end crash risks resulting from unexpected braking.
That increased scrutiny — fueled in part by a cruise incident last year involving a pedestrian — may be part of the reason Zoox is taking a slow and steady approach to testing and scaling up.
A Zoox spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company began mapping cities this spring. Over the summer, Zoox will deploy its Toyota Highlander aftermarket test fleet with safety drivers behind the wheel “in small areas close to business and leisure areas”. The company did not say how many test vehicles it will send to each city.
Zoox also did not say when it plans to remove the safety guide or begin commercial operations in Austin or Miami. Instead, the company focuses on using different urban environments to improve the autonomous system. For example, Austin has horizontal streetlights, streetlights hanging from wires, railroad crossings, and epic thunderstorms. Miami’s traffic lights swing diagonally across intersections and, apparently, the city is plagued by impatient drivers afflicted with road rage.
Zoox’s testing protocol is twofold: The company identifies specific pre-planned routes that offer challenging driving characteristics and scenarios, while also randomly testing certain point-to-point routes within a designated geofence.
“We always start with a focused test area, expanding methodically as our AI becomes more familiar with the unique conditions in each city,” the blog post says.
Plans to test in Austin and Miami come as Zoox prepares for its first commercial launch. Zoox has one permission to test its driverless safety vehicles in parts of San Francisco and Foster City, and is targeting that market as one of the first launch cities along with Las Vegas.
Zoox did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for a timeline for commercial development or to provide definitions of the geo-blocked areas.
Zoox has become associated with images of the purpose-built robotaxi, this cute breadbox-shaped vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals and side doors that open to admit passengers. The company won’t test these vehicles on public roads in Austin or Miami, yet.
Zoox has begun limited tests of the fully driverless robotaxi on public roads in Las Vegas and Foster City and plans to begin offering rides to passengers this year. In February, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted Zoox its Driverless AV Pilot License, which allows the company to transport members of the public for free within the boundaries of the Foster City Approved Zone. Zoox has not confirmed if it has started doing this.
News of Zoox’s expansion comes as the robotaxi space gets a second wind. Or maybe it’s a third wind. GM’s Cruise also recently announced plans try his robotaxis in dallas and phoenix. Alphabet’s Waymo earlier this year began offering driverless rides to employees in Austin in preparation for a planned commercial launch this year, and the company also recently announced plans to begin testing robotaxi in Atlanta.
