Robotaxis are taking over China's roads. Here's how they stack up to the old-fashioned version.

[beijingwalker]

WORLD

Robotaxis are taking over China's roads. Here's how they stack up to the old-fashioned version.​

AUGUST 18, 2022 / 6:12 PM / CBS NEWS

Beijing — So-called robotaxis are popping up all over China. Tech giant Baidu, better known for its search engine and sometimes referred to as China's Google, is among the companies testing the self-driving taxi service.

Baidu is currently testing its self-driving taxis in 10 cities across the country, and it just got approval to roll out fully driverless vehicles in the major metropolises of Wuhan and Chongqing.

In the capital, Beijing, where the company is based, a human is still required by law to sit in the front passenger's seat — but they haven't got much to do.

With sensors, radars and cameras mounted all over the car, a computer is fully in charge of navigation. Advancements in technology mean the latest models cost only about $37,000 — about half as much as the previous generation. The price drop is paving the way for mass production.

The Baidu service itself offers an experience similar to ride-share apps like Uber. You download an app to your smartphone, pinpoint your location and destination, and a car shows up. The difference, at this stage, is that Baidu customers must choose from a list of existing stops, sort of like bus stops, instead of just picking any specific location they may want to reach.

CBS News gave the Baidu service in Beijing a try, and then for comparison, did the same route in a traditional cab with a driver.

The Baidu journey itself was smooth, but slightly slower than the old-fashioned method.

A screen on the back seats provides a visual representation of how the robotaxi's software is scanning and surveying the space around the vehicle to locate other cars, humans, bikes and anything else that could get in the way.

Other customers generally voiced positive views about the service to CBS News, calling it convenient and user-friendly, although they said more available "stops" should be added to the routes. None of them voiced concerns about safety.

Baidu claims 1 million rides have already been completed since it rolled out the service five years ago, and it has plans to expand into dozens more Chinese cities by 2030.

A report by the Boston Consulting Group on robotaxi services in general said our societies would benefit from them, with less congestion and more liveable cities thanks to the vehicles themselves, at least, running on electricity rather than fossil fuel, which would cut urban air pollution.

The self-driving taxis won't be lonely robots on China's roads. Just like in the U.S., food delivery services are already testing smaller autonomous vehicles in China that may soon deliver people everything from coffees to pizza.

Robotaxis are taking over China's roads. Here's how they stack up to the old-fashioned version.

Tech giant Baidu has human-monitored self-driving test cars rolling around in 10 cities, and it just got clearance to use some without any human oversight.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[beijingwalker]

Robotaxis popping up in China​

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Waymo has been completely driverless since 2020 but is having the same problem bottleneck as Baidu of getting widespread permission to allow them on all roads

PDF thread showing multiple user experiences with having nobody in the front seats:

Waymo Driverless Taxi Now Available to Public in Phoenix

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/10/08/585892.htm Waymo on Thursday will relaunch and expand its fully automated, robo-taxi ride hailing service in Phoenix, rebooting its effort to transform years of autonomous vehicle research into a revenue-producing business. Waymo...

defence.pk

 

[beijingwalker]

CBS News

 

[beijingwalker]

Waymo has been completely driverless since 2020 but is having the same problem bottleneck as Baidu of getting widespread permission to allow them on all roads

PDF thread showing multiple user experiences with having nobody in the front seats:

Waymo Driverless Taxi Now Available to Public in Phoenix

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/10/08/585892.htm Waymo on Thursday will relaunch and expand its fully automated, robo-taxi ride hailing service in Phoenix, rebooting its effort to transform years of autonomous vehicle research into a revenue-producing business. Waymo...

defence.pk

Baidu now has at least 10 Chinese cities running taxi service with this tech, how many US cities offer such taxi service?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Baidu now has at least 10 Chinese cities running taxi service with this tech, how many US cities offer such taxi service?

So far only San Francisco and Phoenix have cars with nobody in the front seats. The rest are taking a wait and see attitude.

I don’t know if any others are going the China route with safety drivers in the front seats. They aren’t publicizing them much if they are.

 

[Wood]

Is the fare cheaper than a regular taxi?

 

[beijingwalker]

So far only San Francisco and Phoenix have cars with nobody in the front seats. The rest are taking a wait and see attitude.

I don’t know if any others have cars with a safety driver in the front.

Read again, no safety drivers now, total privacy.

Is the fare cheaper than a regular taxi?

I don't know if all the cities have the same level of fare, this is for Shenzhen

 

[Beny Karachun]

Baidu now has at least 10 Chinese cities running taxi service with this tech, how many US cities offer such taxi service?

Tesla is supposed to release an update that will allow all of their cars to effectively become autonomous taxies. I don't know if people would like the idea though.

 

[MH.Yang]

So far only San Francisco and Phoenix have cars with nobody in the front seats. The rest are taking a wait and see attitude.

I don’t know if any others are going the China route with safety drivers in the front seats.

If these vehicles have an accident, which party will be required by American law to bear the responsibility for the accident?

The Chinese people have been arguing over this issue for a long time.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Read again, no safety drivers now, total privacy.


I don't know if all the cities have the same level of fare, this is for Shenzhen

View attachment 871892

The video says there is a safety drive required in Shenzen and the article says Beijing requires a safety driver by law.

I’m sure other Chinese cities have less stricter requirements.

 

[beijingwalker]

The video says there is a safety drive required in Shenzen and the article says Beijing requires a safety driver by law.

I’m sure other Chinese cities have less stricter requirements.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

If these vehicles have an accident, which party will be required by American law to bear the responsibility for the accident?

The Chinese people have been arguing over this issue for a long time.

I’m sure the same rules apply if a regular taxi hits somebody. Legally the Taxi company that hired the taxi driver will be at fault. It will be up to the Taxi company to go after the self-driving maker for any judgments losing some civil suit caused.

 

[MH.Yang]

I’m sure the same rules apply if a regular taxi hits somebody. Legally the Taxi company that hired the taxi driver will be at fault. It will be up to the Taxi company to go after the self-driving maker for any judgments losing some civil suit caused.

If an ordinary taxi has an accident, the driver or the taxi company is certainly responsible. However, there is no driver, and the taxi company has not interfered with the operation of vehicles. Why should the taxi company be responsible?

There is another problem. If the vehicle goes left, it will hit one person; if the vehicle goes right, it will hit two people; if the vehicle stops, it will cause rear end collision. Who gives the driverless company the right to choose other people's right to live? This is unconstitutional.

 

[letsrock]

View attachment 871894

I think you still need an attendant in the oassenger seat,