Zoox Expands Autonomous Vehicle Testing to Washington DC
▼ Summary
– Zoox will begin mapping Washington D.C. streets using manually driven Toyota Highlanders equipped with sensors and self-driving software.
– The company plans to start testing autonomous vehicles with human safety operators in Washington D.C. later this year.
– Zoox will begin with a small fleet of test vehicles in D.C. that will grow over time, though the exact number wasn’t shared.
– The company is working toward launching a commercial robotaxi service using custom-built vehicles without traditional controls like steering wheels.
– Zoox received a regulatory exemption from NHTSA for public road demonstrations and has filed a separate application to expand toward commercial service.
Zoox, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Amazon, is expanding its testing operations to Washington D.C., marking its first major deployment on the East Coast. The company will begin by manually driving Toyota Highlanders equipped with its advanced sensor arrays and self-driving software to create detailed maps of the city’s streets. Later this year, these vehicles will transition to autonomous testing, with human safety operators remaining behind the wheel at all times.
According to a recent company announcement, Washington D.C. was selected due to its expanding population and strong need for flexible transportation alternatives. The city represents an optimal environment for refining autonomous technology in a dense, complex urban setting. Zoox has not disclosed the exact number of vehicles that will participate in the initial testing phase, but a spokesperson indicated the fleet will start small and gradually increase in size over time.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Foster City, California, Zoox has significantly broadened its geographic footprint beyond Silicon Valley. It now operates hundreds of test vehicles across multiple U.S. cities, including Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, and Seattle. The addition of Washington D.C. brings the total number of active test locations to eight.
Beyond testing standard vehicles, Zoox is advancing toward a commercial robotaxi service using its purpose-built, fully autonomous vehicles. These custom robotaxis are designed without traditional controls such as steering wheels or pedals. In Las Vegas, an established hub for the company since 2019, Zoox has already launched a complimentary public robotaxi service. The company also initiated testing of its custom driverless vehicles in San Francisco late last year.
Zoox’s long-term vision involves launching commercial robotaxi services in multiple markets, though regulatory approvals are still required. The company received an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in August, permitting it to operate its custom robotaxis on public roads for research and demonstration purposes. Zoox has since submitted a separate application seeking broader permissions that would enable the full commercial deployment of its driverless fleet.
(Source: TechCrunch)
