Zoox, a subsidiary of Amazon, announced Monday that for the first time it has rolled its designed shuttles fully autonomously, with no steering wheel or pedals, on a short stretch of public highway in California.
This advance remains limited: passengers are corporate employees who travel free of charge, and the shuttle is approved by authorities for a 1.6-kilometer (1-mile) route between two major buildings in Foster City.
But it marks an important milestone for the group, which says it’s a world first for a vehicle specifically designed for full autonomy.
Other companies such as Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, or Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, have been using cars in limited areas for a number of years that can move around without a driver but always have a driver’s seat steering wheel and a pedal in case a human takes the must take control.
“In announcing the first ride of our self-driving employee shuttle, we build on the advances the industry has made over the past year and are one step closer to commercializing a self-driving taxi service for the general public,” he said quoted by Zoox, Aicha Evans, in a press release.