Waymo began offering paid driverless rides to the public in Denver, San Diego, and Tampa on Tuesday, September 1, bringing the Alphabet-owned company's commercial robotaxi operations to 14 U.S. cities4,3. Amazon-owned Zoox separately announced plans to begin testing its vehicles in Houston and San Diego, which would bring its presence to 12 U.S. markets.
In San Diego, Waymo will start with a "few dozen" self-driving cars operating within a 40-square-mile zone stretching from Pacific Beach south to Sunset Cliffs, southeast to Barrio Logan, and northeast to Normal Heights1. The California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo's expansion permit just weeks ago, allowing the company to pick up passengers in the city. Waymo is not yet serving San Diego International Airport, as it is awaiting a permit from the city.
"Expansion will be gradual and guided by our safety framework," Waymo posted on X. The company said it would gradually expand access to riders in all three new cities.
Zoox, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon, said it will begin testing fleet operations in San Diego in September. Its test vehicles are retrofitted Toyota Highlanders equipped with cameras, lidar, and radar. Human drivers in Zoox's test fleet will begin mapping neighborhoods including Little Italy, the Gaslamp Quarter, Old Town, University Heights, Mission Valley, Balboa, North Park, and South Park. Zoox will initially use these retrofitted vehicles for manual mapping and testing before deploying its purpose-built driverless robotaxis, which have no steering wheels.
Zoox currently serves passengers in San Francisco and Las Vegas. The company started offering paid rides in Las Vegas in August, after previously carrying passengers for free in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Austin, and Miami as part of its testing program. Zoox is also testing its fleet in Seattle, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C..
Beyond San Diego, Waymo serves passengers in over a dozen cities and is testing in 18 others. The company said last month it would begin testing in Munich ahead of a planned commercial launch in Germany toward the end of 2027.
The San Diego expansion has drawn local opposition. The Metropolitan Transit System board of directors voted 12-1 in January to approve a resolution opposing the expansion of Waymo robotaxis. Sean Elo-Rivera, chair of the Taxi Advisory Committee, said, "Autonomous vehicles don't just change how people move. They literally replace people".
Tesla's golden Cybercabs have also been seen on San Diego streets. Both Zoox and Tesla were granted permission from the CPUC and DMV to test their fleets with a human behind the wheel.
ANALYSIS The simultaneous expansions by Waymo and Zoox on the same day, in overlapping geographies, mark a direct collision between Alphabet and Amazon in the autonomous ride-hailing market. Waymo holds a clear lead in commercial operations at 14 cities versus Zoox's 12 testing locations, with Zoox still in the mapping and data-collection phase in its newest markets.