Zoox, the Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company, has extended its commercial robotaxi service in Las Vegas to include trips to and from Harry Reid International Airport. Customer hails to the airport will begin Thursday, according to the company. The move unlocks a major ride-hailing destination as Zoox continues to ramp up operations following recent regulatory approvals.
The Silicon Valley-based company spent more than a decade developing its self-driving system and a purpose-built robotaxi that has no steering wheel or pedals. While Zoox had given rides to customers in Las Vegas for a year, it could not operate as a true commercial service until August, when federal safety regulators granted the company a temporary exemption from certain motor vehicle safety standards. That two-year exemption allows Zoox to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles and covers eight federal standards, including those for windshield defrosting and light vehicle braking systems.
Since receiving the exemption, Zoox has accelerated its business expansion. The company began charging for rides on August 10, announced testing plans for its self-driving vehicles in San Diego and Houston, and released a safety framework. The Las Vegas airport expansion is the latest step in that push.
Zoox said its robotaxi will pick up and drop off riders at both airport terminals near baggage claim. That gives the service an advantage over traditional ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft, whose airport pick-up location sits on the upper floor of a nearby parking garage, roughly a five- to ten-minute walk from baggage claim. Uber and Lyft can drop passengers off at the terminal curb, but the airport pick-up process for those services is less direct.
Zoox is currently the only robotaxi company operating service to the Las Vegas airport, but that is expected to change. Las Vegas has served as a testing ground for autonomous vehicle firms for years, and the city is now poised to host multiple commercial robotaxi operators within the next year. Tesla, Uber, and Waymo each received permits last month from the Nevada Transportation Authority to run commercial robotaxi services in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.
Uber plans to offer robotaxis through partnerships with Hyundai subsidiary Motional and with Zoox itself. The new permits together allow for deployment of up to 8,000 robotaxis across Clark County over the next 12 months.
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