Zoox robotaxis to begin testing on streets of San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Francisco's streets, already crowded with driverless Waymos, will have to make room for another fleet of driverless taxis. On Monday, Zoox announced that its purpose-built robotaxis would begin testing on the city's streets.

Zoox is based in San Francisco and has been operating on the city's streets since 2017, running autonomous drivers with its test fleet with a safety driver aboard. But in a blog post, the company announced that it had passed critical safety measures and would begin testing unmanned robotaxis in San Francisco.

Initial testing will be focused in SoMa, the company said. Rides will not be available to the public during this initial testing phase. However, Zoox employees will be able to take rides, "helping to refine the experience," the company said.

As the testing progresses, the company hopes to expand its geofencing to roll the test out to additional SF neighborhoods.

"Zoox is the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls," said Zoox CTO and co-founder Jesse Levinson. "This expansion marks our third city for our robotaxi operations, following Foster City and Las Vegas."

According to Zoox, San Franciscans may already be familiar with the company's test fleet. The Zoox robotaxi, however, has a markedly different look to other robotaxis, as the company notes.

In addition to launching testing in San Francisco, Zoox also announced that it was expanding its geofence in Las Vegas with an eye toward making public rides available there in 2025.