Amazon's Zoox to start paid robotaxi rides in Vegas next week
AMZN•Zoox to begin paid rides in Las Vegas
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Amazon's Zoox will begin paid rides in Las Vegas next week, the company said on Wednesday, days after the U.S. road safety agency allowed commercial deployment of its robotaxis that run without human controls.
Zoox, whose electric carriage-style vehicle has two rows of inward-facing seats, has been carrying passengers in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Austin and Miami for free as part of testing.
Its commercial launch intensifies competition in the U.S. robotaxi market, where Alphabet's Waymo already operates paid driverless services in multiple cities and Tesla has begun rolling out its service, as companies race to scale autonomous ride-hailing.
Zoox will start charging passengers in Las Vegas from Monday, with pricing similar to the "comfort" tier offered by other ride-hailing companies, it said in a statement. The "comfort" tier typically offers newer, roomier vehicles at fares about 20%-40% higher than standard ride-hailing services.
It did not disclose when it would start paid rides in other cities.
