More than a decade after Uber and Lyft gave passengers in California new choices for local transportation, a fresh rollout of robotaxi (and robotaxi-ish) services is arriving in the Bay Area.
Waymo is growing fast. Tesla has a cheap new option — with a driver in the car. And Zoox, after years of testing, is now finally welcoming members of the public into its autonomous cars.
Zoox, owned by Amazon and known for its boxy, steering-wheel-free vehicles, announced on November 18 that it’s gradually taking members of the San Francisco public off its waitlist for rides. For now, Zoox will only service a chunk of the city — the Mission and Design districts, plus South of Market up to Fifth Street — but the rides will be free to start. The company doesn’t yet have a permit for fared operations…