--- title: "Amazon's Zoox will launch autonomous taxis in Austin and Miami later this year" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/280323419.md" description: "Amazon's Zoox plans to launch autonomous taxi services in Austin and Miami later this year, with initial rides available only to Zoox employees and their friends and family. Zoox was acquired by Amazon in 2020 and began offering trial rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco last year, serving 350,000 passengers. This expansion will also increase the service area in San Francisco, as Zoox accelerates its efforts to catch up with Waymo's leading position in the autonomous taxi industry" datetime: "2026-03-24T13:10:41.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/280323419.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/280323419.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/280323419.md) --- > Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/280323419.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/280323419.md) # Amazon's Zoox will launch autonomous taxis in Austin and Miami later this year **Key Points** - Amazon's Zoox is preparing to launch autonomous taxi services in Austin and Miami later this year. - This is the latest expansion move by the autonomous driving company, which opened public test rides in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco last year. - Zoox has not yet launched a paid service, but its CEO Aicha Evans stated that the company is ready to start charging as soon as it receives regulatory approval. On December 4, 2024, a Zoox autonomous taxi on the streets of San Francisco, California. Amazon's Zoox has begun testing its electric autonomous taxis in the South Market area of San Francisco. Amazon's autonomous driving subsidiary Zoox announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch autonomous taxi services to a limited public audience in Austin and Miami later this year. Zoox will soon deploy its toaster-shaped autonomous taxis, which have no steering wheel or pedals, for testing in **small designated areas** in both cities. Initial rides will be open only to Zoox employees and their friends and family, followed by the launch of the "Explorer Program," where the public can queue to experience the ride service. Over the past year, the company has gradually opened its autonomous taxi test rides to the public. Zoox was acquired by Amazon in 2020 and began offering free driverless rides on the Las Vegas Strip and in parts of San Francisco last year. As of late March, the company reported serving 350,000 passengers, with approximately 500,000 people on the waiting list for the Explorer Program. Zoox is racing to catch up with the leader in the U.S. autonomous taxi industry—Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet. Waymo currently provides 400,000 paid rides weekly across six metropolitan areas in the U.S., has commercial operations in 10 cities nationwide, and plans to expand to London and Tokyo this year. In Tuesday's announcement, Zoox also revealed an expansion of its service areas in San Francisco and Las Vegas. This expansion will add TK square miles of service area in San Francisco, including the waterfront area, North Beach, Chinatown, Pacific Heights, and the waterfront boulevard. Previously, its services were limited to the South Market, Mission, and Design districts of the city. In Las Vegas, Zoox indicated that it expects to begin providing event shuttle services at high-traffic locations such as the Sphere and T-Mobile Arena later this spring, and plans to open a passenger route to Harry Reid International Airport in the coming months. The company is currently testing autonomous driving technology in 10 cities across the U.S. CEO Aicha Evans revealed in an interview that Zoox's autonomous taxis will soon hit the streets of Atlanta and Los Angeles, with modified Toyota Highlanders collecting data in those areas since last year Zoox's biggest obstacle remains launching paid services and producing enough vehicles to meet ride demand. The company is awaiting approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to deploy up to 2,500 autonomous vehicles for commercial operations on public roads. The agency initiated a 30-day public comment period on March 10, after which it will announce the approval results for Zoox's application. "We are ready to start the paid model, especially in Las Vegas, as we have been operating there for a long time," Evans said. Earlier this month, Zoox partnered with Uber to integrate its autonomous taxi service into the Uber ride-hailing app starting this summer. Uber has collaborated with several autonomous taxi companies, including Waymo, in an effort to seize future opportunities in the continuously expanding autonomous vehicle market. Evans stated that the company hopes to "gain a lot of experience" from the partnership with Uber, but she added that "for the foreseeable future," Zoox's own app will remain the primary way to hail its vehicles. She declined to disclose the percentage of the fleet accessed through ride-hailing partners. "This is a long journey. We have been deeply engaged in this field for 12 years, always steadfast and persevering," Evans said. "It's not possible to wake up one day and find a million autonomous taxis on the streets." ### Related Stocks - [GraniteShares 2x Long AMZN Daily ETF (AMZZ.US)](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMZZ.US.md) - [Amazon.com, Inc. 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