Apollo Go Robotaxi service was launched by Baidu in Changsha, Cangzhou and Beijing. This is the first robotaxi service to be operating in the nation’s capital.
According to Baidu, it is the only company operating robotaxi services in more than one Chinese city.
To begin with, the Beijing service covers 700 km (435 miles) and uses 40 robotaxi vehicles. It includes 100 pickup/drop-off locations. It’s not a door-to-door service, but rather a “station-to-station” service.
Those stations currently cover Yizhuang, Haidian, and Shunyi districts.
For now, it is free to use the robotaxi service for these early trials.
It’s believed the strategy of offering the service for free is because gathering data is particularly valuable for these companies right now, and people may be concerned about using self-driving taxis, so may need an extra bit of encouragement .
At the moment, as in most of these initial robotaxi services around the world, there are “safety drivers/technicians” prepared to take over if the driverless car somehow messes up and either wants to do something stupid or just plain gets stuck.
You can sign up and book rides for Apollo Go robotaxi service via Baidu Maps or on the Apollo website.
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