More than a decade after Uber and Lyft gave Bay Area passengers new choices for local transportation, a fresh rollout of robotaxi (and robotaxi-ish) services is here. 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 Nov. 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.
Many wannabe Zoox riders will find themselves stuck on the waitlist for a while, thanks to the company’s relatively small fleet and gradual rollout. But the announcement and new map mark another milestone for the Bay Area’s rising autonomous vehicle industry. Robotaxis have gone from a science project to a real option for travelers.
That growth is in large part thanks to Waymo, which has also had a busy November. The Google subsidiary is running 250,000 rides a week across its various markets, and is in the process of combining its previously disconnected service maps in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. It’s starting to route riders onto freeways. And on Friday, Waymo shared new approvals from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, giving the company one of its necessary permits for rolling out robotaxis in the East Bay, North Bay and Sacramento area.
The DMV also gave Waymo permission to expand dramatically in Southern California. Pending the approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, which guides the commercial side of ride-hailing companies’ rollouts, the company will be able to grow its Los Angeles service area north, south and east. Waymo said it plans to launch in San Diego in the middle of 2026.
Waymo’s deft handling of the myriad permit processes across the cities and states it operates in has given it the robotaxi lead, aided by the company largely avoiding high-profile accidents. But Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have also set their sights on the business, and though the carmaker is behind on both DMV and CPUC permits, it’s giving Bay Area residents a cheap new ride-hailing option…