Baidu and Pony AI granted the first Chinese licenses to charge

Passengers who feel uncomfortable with the idea that an algorithm will get them from A to B safely need not fear: taxis will have a human “security guard” at the wheel, ready to intervene. . if necessary.

Baidu started operating its driverless taxis on a trial basis in September last year. It will operate a fleet of 67 autonomous vehicles operating between more than 600 pickup and drop-off points in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, which is part of the Occupied Region. The service will be available from 7 am to 10 pm, and passengers can flag off a ride using the Apollo Go app.

Both the companies have not yet disclosed the fees charged from the passengers. Analysts estimate that the fare will be similar to that of conventional taxis.

Pony AI is an autonomous driving technology company founded in late 2016 by James Peng and Lu Tiancheng, formerly two of the lead developers and engineers of Baidu’s autonomous driving unit.

Pony began testing its Robotaxis in Beijing in May this year.

“China is taking a step forward in its pursuit of autonomous driving now that dozens of companies are engaging in the development of key technologies to lead the way in the future of mobility,” said David Zhang, an automotive industry researcher at North China University. Technology. “But officials will be cautious in gradually expanding the pilot project.”

In August 2016, NuTonomy in the United States became the first company in the world to make axis robots available to the public, offering travel with a fleet of modified six Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEVs in a limited area of ​​Singapore.

A year later, Cruise Automation, a startup acquired by General Motors, launched a beta version of the Robotaxi service for its employees in San Francisco using a fleet of 46 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles (EVs).

In China, a number of automakers, including Tesla and smart electric vehicle start-up Xping Motors, offer their customers driver assistance systems, a technology that is early on for fully autonomous driving.

Most technologies use “environmental sensing” sensors that can help the vehicle decide whether to overtake a slower car, but the process still requires human intervention.

According to the classification system published by the standards body SAE International, they are classified as Level 2 (L2) or L2+.

Full automation, without any human intervention, is L5.

Baidu launched Apollo, the world’s largest open-source autonomous driving platform, four years ago, inviting dozens of automakers, component suppliers and tech companies to develop next-generation vehicles.

Unlike other strong advocates of autonomous driving, Baidu is shifting its approach from vehicle-only technologies to intelligent infrastructure.

The company aims to expand Apollo Go’s operations to 65 cities in China by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030.

Analysts said Shanghai is likely to be the next mainland city that allows robotic taxi service providers to tap commuters’ appetite for driverless cars.