02-04-2025
Where Are the Purpose-Built Robotaxi Shuttles We Were Promised?
Driverless multi-passenger shuttles are less prominent than car and crossover-based robotaxis so far, with testing under way by a handful of developers.
Waymo, Zoox, Oxa, MOIA, and others have been testing larger, multi-passenger SAE Level 4 vehicles in the US, though a full-scale fleet in a large US city has yet to see service.
The main focus of robotaxi operations has leaned on using converted, mass-market EVs that can carry two or three passengers, rather than large custom-made shuttles with more seating capacity.
Despite once promising sleek and airy purpose-built shuttles, so far the robotaxi industry has largely delivered crossovers and minivans with lots of sensors glued on.
So the year 2025, despite sounding futuristic when you say it out loud, still relies on production models with a few sensors on the roof, provided you live in a city that has robotaxis at all.
And for the past couple of years, this has meant just a handful of locales on the West Coast and in the Southwest.
So where are those futuristic shuttles we were promised?
The easiest explanation for what's happened over the past two years when it comes to proprietary, purpose-built autonomous shuttles with subway-style doors, is that their commercial debuts have been slowed by a variety of development and business reasons, even though some are certainly here and are undergoing testing in more limited, non-citywide geofenced areas. And the reasons certainly vary by company.
Following the demise of General Motors' Cruise, Waymo has been at the forefront of robotaxi operations in the US, having launched services in multiple cities with a number of debuts planned for 2025 and 2026.
But its custom-made shuttle, intended to be built by Geely-owned Zeekr, has seen a measured round of testing for now in the US, initially having faced the threat of 100% tariffs as it was slated to be built in China.
Waymo's Zeekr RT is still believed to be on the way into the robotaxi company's fleets, with the first major batch now expected to land at the end of the year.
A far more noticeable road presence—at least if you've been to Las Vegas over the past few months—has been Zoox's autonomous shuttle.
The purpose-built model, tall enough to stand in, has seen rounds of testing in a limited area in Las Vegas, though Zoox itself is not exactly racing to fill multiple cities in the Southwest with fleets of such shuttles. At least not now.
The Zoox shuttle, we should note, gets far more futurism points for featuring no driver controls while offering conference-style seating, so it's more of a minibus than the minivan-style Zeekr RT.
Of course, one of the main impediments to a wider rollout of Zoox-style shuttles has been, and will continue to be, the investment needed to build hundreds of custom-made EVs, which easily dip into six-figure territory for each unit built.
This is likely to remain a barrier for wide-scale shuttle services of this type for some time—and also explains why there have been relatively few such efforts.
But Zoox is not alone when it comes to autonomous shuttles without driver controls.
Over the past few months, UK-based Oxa has been testing its own proprietary shuttle dubbed Presto in collaboration with Beep Inc. in the Bay Area, specifically in the Rossmoor 55+ active senior community in Walnut Creek, just a few minutes east of Oakland.
Presto is currently one of the largest deployed autonomous shuttles, offering seating for seven, though at the moment it still employs a human safety monitor on board, even if it lacks traditional driver controls.
"The electric, autonomous shuttles will operate on a predetermined route in the Rossmoor community, running Oxa's self-driving software product, Oxa Driver, with Beep managing the planning, deployment, and operation of the autonomous mobility network," the company said.
Identical shuttle services have been launched by Oxa in two locations in Jacksonville and Nona, Florida, also in collaboration with Beep.
Oxa's operational debuts still exist in a somewhat different category than envisioned by Waymo and Zoox, following a pre-set route along a mix of public and private roads.
By contrast, the Waymo and Zoox models are designed to be summoned by users' phone apps to specific locations and to cover a much wider and far busier geographic area.
But Oxa's efforts still represent one of just a handful of operational uses of SAE Level 4 shuttles in what is a non-airport setting.
Airports have traditionally been seen as one of the easiest launching grounds for autonomous shuttles, but they have largely been confined to serving parking lots in the few deployments we've seen thus far.
And for understandable reasons, it's difficult to put them into quite the same category as ride-hailing shuttles that can freely roam a city and pick up passengers when requested by app.
Another notable SAE Level 4 shuttle with potential is Volkswagen's MOIA startup.
Aimed at ride-pooling operations in a handful of cities in Germany, the autonomous shuttle is based on the VW ID. Buzz and has seen testing stateside for quite some time now.
"Austin, Munich, and Hamburg—the ID. Buzz AD is being tested and validated in three major cities worldwide,' Christian Senger, CEO of Volkswagen ADMT, said in 2024. "Passenger safety and the safety of all road users are our top priorities. This also includes regular communication with local police and fire departments."
Volkswagen's MOIA venture, which has been delivering ride-pooling services for a few years now with a driver behind the wheel, is scheduled to see autonomous versions of the ID. Buzz in Hamburg later this year. But the longer-term plan is to switch to a driverless shuttle service.
This winter VW has been pushing the autonomous ID. Buzz test vehicles out of their sunny comfort zones, instead taking them to Norway for testing in the ice and snow—a unique feat for current shuttles in testing or limited operational phases.
"Our testing is already under way. In addition to evaluating the driving capabilities in dense traffic, we're also testing all functionalities needed to ensure safe and comfortable passenger transport," Sascha Meyer, CEO of MOIA said a few months ago.
But VW isn't rushing to promise a US debut of its ride-pooling services anytime soon, focusing on Germany for now. Part of the reason, we suspect, is that VW does not yet have a ride-hailing app partner stateside who has signed on for such a move, and isn't eager to mirror Waymo's scale even in warm-weather states.
Also, VW has already spent years cultivating a ride-pooling user base in Hamburg prior to the planned launch of autonomous shuttles, which would be a tough feat to repeat from scratch in the US.
For now, autonomous shuttles are certainly on the way for a number of robotaxi operators or are already in service in some niche locations, but a wider-scale deployment remains some time away.
Will multi-passenger, driverless shuttles become common in the US by 2030, or will this approach to autonomous vehicles remain a small niche? Please comment below.
