Exciting news! Recently, Amazon-owned Zoox’s autonomous shuttle service hit the open public roads, marking the first time in history that a purpose-built robotaxi has driven autonomously with passengers, and without any manual controls like a steering wheel or pedals. The experience was built for riders, not drivers, and it was a huge moment for Zoox and its crew, who made this happen.

Amazon Zoox Robotaxi

According to Jesse Levinson, co-founder and CTO of Zoox, being the world’s first passenger in a robotaxi with no manual controls on open public roads was one of the highlights of his life. Reinventing transportation required assessing all-new innovations at every stage. Zoox put its vehicle through iterative loops of simulations and structured testing in the test chamber to clock serious miles on private test tracks. Meanwhile, the L3 test fleet collected real road data and drove more than a million autonomous miles in San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Seattle.

Zoox became the first company in July 2022 to self-certify a purpose-built, fully autonomous, all-electric passenger vehicle to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which are the federal vehicle safety performance requirements needed to operate on public roads. Last week, Zoox received its driverless testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to operate its robotaxi autonomously on public roads, both empty and with Zoox employees as passengers.

Starting this spring, Zoox’s full-time employees will be able to ride in the robotaxi between its Foster City offices during business hours. This milestone is a significant achievement for Zoox, the autonomous vehicle industry, and transportation in cities. It’s a step closer to bringing purpose-built robotaxis to the general public, and it will revolutionize how people travel, making journeys easier and more enjoyable.

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