Zoox has announced its arrival in two new cities: Houston, Texas, and San Diego, California. The company now has a presence in 12 US locations.
Operations will begin with the company’s retrofitted test fleet in the downtown, central tourist areas and select residential neighborhoods of San Diego and Houston. Zoox will begin by focusing on manual mapping before progressing to autonomous testing. Once this is complete, purpose-built, driverless robotaxis will begin operations, laying the groundwork for a rider-first ride-hailing service.
Why Houston and San Diego?
Houston is Zoox’s most geographically expansive market to date, with major cultural, commercial and transit hubs providing significant demand for ride-hailing and first- and last-mile services. However, the city presents challenges, including complex service-road networks and merging scenarios, and severe weather such as extreme heat, heavy rain and urban flooding.
San Diego’s concentrated coastal corridor and reliance on highways provide experience relevant to future freeway operations. Its frequent marine fog also offers real-world conditions for validating sensor perception. The city’s tourist economy, military presence and major university campuses provide a diverse environment for future ride-hailing services. The company already has an office in San Diego and plans to expand physical operations in both markets with new depots, where it says it will be hiring locally.
In related news, Uber and Wayve launch UK’s first autonomous rides in London