Chinese authorities allowed Baidu to provide robot cab services in two major metropolitan areas
Chinese company Baidu has received its first approval to introduce robot cab services on public roads.
What we know
The fully autonomous passenger transportation service has begun operating in Chongqing and Wuhan, two of the largest metropolitan areas in China. In Wuhan, the robotic cabs will run from 04:00 (EET) to 12:00 (EET) and in Chongqing from 04:30 (EET) to 12:00 (EET). The service area will be 13 km2 and 30 km2 respectively.
According to Baidu, five fifth-generation Apollo vehicles will provide autonomous transportation services in each city. In order to obtain permission from the authorities, the unmanned vehicles passed several stages of licensing and testing. During the tests, the Baidu vehicles drove a total of more than 32 million kilometers.
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