{"id":37608,"date":"2024-11-13T13:20:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=37608"},"modified":"2024-11-13T13:20:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T21:20:18","slug":"zooxs-new-robotaxis-are-driving-s-f-roads-but-the-public-will-have-to-wait-for-rides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/13\/zooxs-new-robotaxis-are-driving-s-f-roads-but-the-public-will-have-to-wait-for-rides\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoox\u2019s new robotaxis are driving S.F. roads. But the public will have to wait for rides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Chase DiFeliciantonio<\/a>, Reporter Nov 11, 2024 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zoox employees enter a self-driving robotaxi as it drives between two Zoox headquarters in Foster City in July. Now, the bidirectional vehicles are driving in San Francisco.Jessica Christian\/The Chronicle<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a new robotaxi in town. But you can\u2019t ride in this one yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon-owned Zoox vehicles have taken to the streets of San Francisco\u2019s SoMa neighborhood less than two weeks after the company promised the vehicles would start showing up<\/a> in the city and on the Las Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cZoox is the only company driving a purpose-built robotaxi on public roads without traditional manual controls,\u201d said Jesse Levinson, the company\u2019s co-founder and chief technical officer in a\u00a0blog post<\/a>\u00a0announcing the vehicles hitting San Francisco streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google-owned Waymo vehicles are currently offering paid rides to the public in San Francisco and elsewhere in the Bay Area, but those vehicles are commercially available Jaguar I-Pace SUVs outfitted with sensors. The Zoox vehicles are designed specifically for self-driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unusual looking vehicles resemble pill capsules with wheels, and can drive in either direction since they lack a steering wheel or space for a driver. For now, only Zoox employees can take test rides in them, although the company plans to expand to public rides next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media users began posting videos<\/a> of the vehicles navigating SoMa streets on social media during the past few days. Some expressed surprise<\/a> that the vehicles were popping up on public roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zoox-branded SUVs have been a common sight trundling around San Francisco with their sensor rigs for years. Those are test and mapping vehicles, however, and the company has said all Zoox rides will be offered in its more futuristic-looking vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s purpose-built vehicles had previously been offering rides to employees at the Zoox Foster City campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019ve passed all critical safety measures, we are excited to begin testing our robotaxi in this wonderful city,\u201d said Zoox CEO Aicha Evans in the blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Chase DiFeliciantonio: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com; X: @ChaseDiFelice<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nov 11, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Chase DiFeliciantonio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chase DiFeliciantonio is a reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle where he covers tech and how AI is changing the city and the region. He previously covered business, labor issues, and San Francisco’s recovery from the pandemic’s economic and other effects. A fifth-generation San Franciscan, prior to joining the Chronicle in early 2020 he covered legal and business news at the North Bay Business Journal and the Daily Journal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Chase DiFeliciantonio, Reporter Nov 11, 2024 (SFChronicle.com) Zoox employees enter a self-driving robotaxi as it drives between two Zoox headquarters in Foster City in July. Now, the bidirectional vehicles are driving in San Francisco.Jessica Christian\/The Chronicle There\u2019s a new robotaxi in town. But you can\u2019t ride in this one yet. Amazon-owned… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37610,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37608\/revisions\/37610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}