Amazon’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary, Zoox, is set to launch a small fleet of retrofitted test vehicles in Los Angeles, marking a significant step towards its goal of offering public rides in Las Vegas and San Francisco later this year.

This data-collection initiative represents Zoox’s expansion into its sixth city and paves the way for the eventual introduction of a robotaxi service. Unlike its competitor Waymo, which has already begun providing paid robotaxi rides in LA, Zoox is still in the early stages of development. As part of this deployment, manually driven Toyota Highlanders equipped with Zoox’s self-driving technology will be sent out to gather mapping data, laying the groundwork for more extensive autonomous testing in LA this summer.

Zoox is currently conducting tests of its autonomous vehicles, including both the Highlander test fleet and its purpose-built robotaxis, which are designed without a steering wheel or pedals, in several cities. Notably, the company has expanded the areas where its purpose-built robotaxi is being tested on public roads in Foster City, San Francisco, and Las Vegas without the presence of a human driver. Recently, Zoox allowed employees, media personnel, and other select guests to experience the service.

In addition to its testing in California, Zoox is also conducting tests in Austin, Miami, and Seattle using Highlanders with human safety operators behind the wheel.

The expansion into California comes shortly after Zoox issued a voluntary software recall for 258 vehicles due to issues with its autonomous driving system causing unexpected hard braking.

Zoox’s entry into the Los Angeles market follows the launch of Waymo’s 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 multiple cities, including the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Austin. The Alphabet-owned company plans to launch a commercial service in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C. over the next two years.

This article has been updated with additional information from Zoox.