The Autonomous Vehicle Race Heats Up

As I travel, I’m seeing robotaxis on the road more and more. Some actually carry passengers while others are “learning” the streets. This is happening at a moment when the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry is experiencing a surge of activity as major players like Cruise, Waymo, and Zoox expand their testing and operational footprints across the United States. This week has seen significant developments from each of these companies, highlighting self-driving technology’s competitive and rapidly evolving landscape.

Cruise Resume Testing in Dallas

After a hiatus following a high-profile incident in San Francisco, GM’s Cruise is cautiously reintroducing its robotaxis in Dallas. The company has deployed a small fleet of three vehicles, which will initially be manually driven by human operators to gather mapping and road data. This step is part of Cruise’s strategy to validate self-driving systems and rebuild public trust. The company plans to gradually progress to supervised autonomous driving, although specific safety benchmarks have not been disclosed.

Cruise’s return to Dallas marks the second city where it resumed operations after the incident, with Phoenix being the first. The company is also eyeing a relaunch in California, aiming to compete with Alphabet’s Waymo, which has already received approval to operate commercially on San Francisco’s freeways and in Los Angeles.

Waymo Expands in Metro Phoenix

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has significantly expanded its service area in the Metro Phoenix region by an additional 90 square miles. This expansion includes popular destinations such as Desert Ridge Marketplace, Salt River Fields, and the Talking Stick Resort. Notably, Waymo’s expansion marks the first entry of autonomous ride-hailing services onto tribal land through a partnership with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

With this latest expansion, Waymo’s service area in Metro Phoenix now covers 315 square miles, making it the largest autonomous ride-hailing territory in the nation. The company continues to innovate and enhance its service offerings, with plans to start testing its vehicles on Valley freeways to improve efficiency further and reduce travel times.

Zoox to Test in Austin and Miami

Amazon’s self-driving unit, Zoox, is set to begin testing its robotaxis in Austin and Miami this summer. These cities will be the fourth and fifth locations for Zoox’s public trials, following San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Seattle. The test fleet will consist of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders confined to small areas near business and entertainment districts, with safety drivers on board.

This expansion comes amidst an ongoing investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into rear-end crash risks posed by Zoox’s autonomous vehicles. The NHTSA has requested additional information from Zoox to aid its probe, focusing on incidents of unexpected rapid braking that have led to collisions.

Down The Road

The autonomous vehicle industry is at a critical juncture, with companies like Cruise, Waymo, and Zoox pushing the boundaries of technology and safety. As these companies expand their testing and operational areas, they face increasing scrutiny from regulators and the public. The success of these initiatives will depend on their ability to demonstrate the safety and reliability of their self-driving systems.