Robotaxis in Beijing open new chapter for transport

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.