FILE PHOTO: The Apollo logo is seen on a car of Baidu's driverless robotaxi service Apollo Go, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Josh Arslan/File Photo
BEIJING: Like scenes from science fiction movies, people riding unmanned vehicles are becoming increasingly popular with the recent launch of robotaxis in Beijing that can be hired via mobile apps.
The city granted licences to operate fully driverless robotaxi services to Chinese tech giant Baidu and autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai, this month. It marked the first time that a fully driverless fleet of vehicles had been allowed to operate in a major city worldwide.
The two companies are among the leading players in China’s autonomous driving industry, and each has deployed 10 autonomous vehicles in a 60-square-kilometre area in Yizhuang, a southern suburb of Beijing. They offer robotaxi services to citizens who can hail a ride through the Baidu Apollo Go and Pony.ai PonyPilot+ apps.
Vehicles operate without a safety driver or operator inside. During the journey, passengers can communicate with support specialists verbally to receive assistance in the vehicle.
The move follows the two companies undertaking road tests in the area beginning Dec 30. During the tests, Pony.ai said it achieved safety, stability and zero accidents in complex scenarios such as intersections and narrow roads, as well as in extreme weather conditions like rain and snow.
Beijing set out a three-stage process for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in 2022. The first stage involved testing with a human safety driver, the second stage with a safety driver in the front seat and a passenger in the back, and the third stage was for an autonomous journey without a safety driver.
So far, the designated area in Beijing for autonomous driving serves more than one million people.
Besides the capital, Baidu’s ride-hailing services cover more than 10 cities in China, including Shanghai and Guangdong province’s Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The company plans to expand its autonomous ride-hailing services to 65 cities by 2025 and 100 by 2030.
According to a head of Apollo Go, each vehicle can provide more than 15 rides per day on average in first-tier cities.
As of the end of January, it accumulated more than two million orders, ranking it among the largest autonomous driving service providers in the world. — China Daily/ANN
