Safety officials at the federal level granted Zoox a short-term waiver permitting the Amazon subsidiary to begin billing passengers for journeys in its specially designed self-driving cars.

The waiver from select federal motor vehicle safety rules, revealed Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, represented one of the final regulatory steps Zoox had to complete ahead of rolling out a commercial robotaxi offering.

The ruling also appeared in the federal register.

Zoox vehicles are purpose-built and omit many standard controls mandated by federal rules. The firm autonomous cars, for example, feature neither steering wheels nor brake pedals. The agency granted relief from eight federal motor vehicle standards, covering items such as windshield defrosting and light vehicle braking systems.

Almost a year earlier, NHTSA issued Zoox a waiver that permitted public-road demonstrations of its robotaxis and passenger rides in places like San Francisco and Las Vegas. The company was barred, however, from charging for those trips.

The latest waiver includes several conditions. It caps Zoox commercial fleet at 2,500 vehicles per year for a two-year period. The firm will also operate under what the agency called an enhanced, adaptable oversight framework that can adjust as Zoox technology matures.

A Zoox spokesperson told TechCrunch the company plans to start charging for rides soon, beginning in Las Vegas. Other cities will be added once state-level commercialization rules are met. In California, where Zoox is based and currently offers free passenger rides, the company still requires driverless deployment permits from the state Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Zoox CEO Aicha Evans described the approval as a significant milestone for the company and the broader future of autonomous mobility.

We are honored to receive the first-ever commercial exemption for a purpose-built robotaxi from NHTSA, enabling us to begin charging for our service and take another step toward bringing autonomous ride-hailing to more communities, Evans said in a statement.

The Zoox announcement formed part of a broader set of autonomous vehicle updates released Thursday by the federal agency, including revisions to the exemption process that lets automakers temporarily sell limited numbers of non-compliant vehicles mainly for technology testing.

The NHTSA said it is updating the exemption process to allow automakers to temporarily sell a limited number of non-compliant vehicles, primarily to test new technologies.

The agency also announced a partnership with SAE Industry Technologies Consortia to fund a three-year, five-million-dollar consortium aimed at collecting data and speeding development of AV performance standards. The goal, according to NHTSA, is to establish a single national standard for AV safety.

NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison said the agency backs the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles.

By removing unnecessary barriers to innovation, developing industry guidance, and providing strong enforcement oversight while we create performance requirements, NHTSA is taking a balanced approach to AV regulation, he said. These advancements will ensure that the United States continues to lead the world in AV technology in a safe and responsible manner.

The NHTSA also said Thursday it was reviewing an exemption application from Los Angeles-based startup Robomart for its low-speed driverless vehicle. The startup developed an autonomous delivery vehicle that can hold up to 500 pounds of goods. NHTSA said it will publish a separate notice seeking public comment on its merits once the initial evaluation is complete.