Moderation Team
Baidu has expanded its Apollo Go robotaxi service to the downtown area of Cangzhou, a city in northern China’s Hebei province, where commuters can hail free autonomous rides through the engine giant’s own navigation app Baidu Maps.
The service in Cangzhou, which requires a human driver to be ready to take control in case of an emergency, operates in routes that cover train stations, schools, hotels, museums and business zones, with 55 spots being launched for the self-driving taxis to pick up and drop off passengers, according to a company statement on Sunday.
The service’s launch in Cangzhou is part of a 2019 agreement between Baidu and the city government, under which the two parties would work together to develop a smart transportation system. It also comes four months after Baidu offered free trial robotaxi rides to the general public in Changsha, the capital city of central China’s Hunan province.
Baidu claims that it owns a testing fleet of some 500 self-driving vehicles, which have collectively logged over 6 million kilometers in test drives.
Baidu’s domestic peers, including WeRide, Didi Chuxing and AutoX, have also launched similar robotaxi services in China.
Contact reporter Ding Yi ([email protected])
Source: www.caixinglobal.com
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