Robotaxis Operating In China

Robotaxis Operating In China

LONDON (Bywire News) – A driverless future could be one step closer as search engine giant Baidu Inc claimed on Monday that they obtained the required permits to operate driverless robotaxi services on open roads from two different Chinese cities. If true this would make it the first service of its kind in the country. 

The permits, which were awarded by Chongqing and Wuhan, allow the robotaxis to offer rides to the public without humans driving the car. They come into effect on Monday.

Baidu described the moment as a “turning point” in China’s policymaking toward autonomous driving.

Chief Safety Operation Officer of Baidu’s intelligent driving group said in an interview: “These permits have deep significance for the industry,” while adding that “If we think of the exploration of space, this moment is equal to landing on the moon.”

To start off with, Baidu will deploy five fee-charging robotaxis in each city. Designated operating hours will be from 9 am to 5 pm in Wuhan and 9:30 am to 4:30 pm in Chongqing.

Service areas span 30 square km in Chongqing’s Yongchuan District and 13 square km in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone.

In April, Baidu’s Apollo and Pony.ai said they received permits in Beijing to deploy robotaxis without drivers on open roads within 60 sq km. However, the Beijing permits still require them to have a safety driver in the passenger seat.

Baidu is in talks with local governments in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to secure licenses within a year to test driverless unpaid robotaxis in those cities according to Wei.

China’s external efforts to fast-track autonomous vehicle trials and permits come as US regulators are pushing ahead with setting milestones for autonomous driving policies.

In January, self-driving company Cruise received a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission to grant access to paid and fully driverless rides between 10 pm to 6 am in San Francisco.

Apollo Go, Baidu’s robotaxi service operated over one million rides across 10 Chinese cities since its launch in 2020. Baidu hasn’t reported of any issues with the service, and they have not disclosed how much was invested in the project.

(Writing by Samba Jallow, editing by Klaudia Fior)