Zoox is quadrupling its San Francisco service area for select riders by offering rides in the Marina, North Beach, Chinatown, Pacific Heights and along the Embarcadero.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the aloe-green robotaxi service is available to only a small pool of passengers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Amazon-owned company said the new area will first be open to Zoox employees, their friends and family, and, eventually, riders from the waitlist. The company said it is focused on expanding service in the parts of San Francisco where most ride-hailing takes place before moving into more residential neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Zoox began inviting people from its waitlist to take free rides and share feedback about its service late last year<\/a>. Rides have so far been limited to parts of SoMa, the Mission, and the Design District.\u00a0<\/p>\n Zoox, based in Foster City, is also expanding in Las Vegas, and will begin testing its purpose-built vehicle in Austin and Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis expansion marks a significant step forward for Zoox and is driven by the insights from our early deployments,\u201d said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans. \u201cThis is our year of growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Since Zoox went live in Las Vegas last September, the company has driven nearly two million autonomous miles and carried over 350,000 riders in its limited coverage areas around the Vegas strip and San Francisco. By comparison, Waymo has clocked over one million autonomous rides (opens in new tab)<\/a> every month since last spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n