Earlier this year,  Zoox began operating its electric and autonomous vehicles on public roads in California. This was a major milestone for AV technology, as Zoox’s robotaxis are exclusively designed for autonomous passenger transportation—and therefore do not have a driver’s seat, steering wheel, or other controls for a human driver.

Zoox’s robotaxi highlights the opportunity to fundamentally rethink traditional vehicle designs, which revolve around the assumption of a human in the driver’s seat. This assumption was also built into many of the decades-old regulations that govern vehicles in the United States, known as the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).

Amanda Prescott, Director of Homologation at Zoox, joined us on the PAVEcast to discuss how the company worked to deploy their robotaxi within a federal regulatory framework that was designed with human drivers in mind. Amanda led Zoox’s effort to gain approval to operate its robotaxi on public roads in California, as well as the company’s process to self-certify its robotaxi to FMVSS. Tune in to hear Amanda discuss how Zoox navigated legacy vehicle regulations to make their innovative robotaxi service a reality.