Zoox, Amazon's autonomous vehicle unit, is taking a significant step towards launching a robotaxi service by deploying a small fleet of retrofitted test vehicles on the streets of Los Angeles starting Tuesday. This marks the company's entrance into its sixth city, as it inches closer to offering public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco later this year.

The data-collection effort is a crucial step in Zoox's journey towards launching a commercial robotaxi service. Unlike rival Waymo, which is already providing paid robotaxi rides in LA, Zoox is still in the early stages of its development. The company will be using manually driven Toyota Highlanders equipped with Zoox's self-driving technology to gather mapping data ahead of broader autonomous testing.

Zoox is currently testing its autonomous vehicles, including both the retrofitted Highlanders and its purpose-built robotaxis made without a steering wheel or pedals, in several cities. Notably, the company has expanded the areas where its purpose-built robotaxi is testing on public roads in San Francisco and Las Vegas without a human driver. Zoox has also allowed employees, media, and other vetted guests to try the service.

In addition to Los Angeles, Zoox is testing its autonomous vehicles in Austin, Miami, and Seattle using Highlanders with human safety operators behind the wheel. The company's expansion in California comes a few weeks after Zoox issued a voluntary software recall on 258 vehicles due to issues with its autonomous driving system unexpectedly hard braking.

Zoox's entry into Los Angeles follows Waymo's launch of a fully autonomous commercial robotaxi service in the city. To date, Waymo is the only autonomous vehicle company in the U.S. that offers a paid service in several cities, including the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Austin. The Alphabet-owned company aims to launch a commercial service in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington D.C. over the next two years.

The deployment of Zoox's test fleet in Los Angeles marks a significant milestone in the company's journey towards launching a commercial robotaxi service. While Zoox still has a long way to go before it can match Waymo's scale and reach, its expansion into new cities and testing of purpose-built robotaxis without human drivers demonstrate its commitment to developing a safe and efficient autonomous transportation system.

As the autonomous vehicle industry continues to evolve, Zoox's progress will be closely watched by investors, regulators, and the general public. With Amazon's backing and resources, Zoox has the potential to become a major player in the autonomous transportation market. However, the company will need to overcome the technical and regulatory hurdles that come with developing and deploying self-driving technology on a large scale.

Ultimately, Zoox's success will depend on its ability to develop a safe, efficient, and scalable autonomous transportation system that can be integrated into existing transportation networks. As the company continues to test and refine its technology, it will be interesting to see how it fares in the competitive autonomous vehicle market.