Autonomous Taxis: Permits Granted to Two Firms in Beijing
Authorities in Beijing have granted operating permits to two firms that have created autonomous taxis. Baidu and Pony.ai are the first autonomous vehicle manufacturers to have been allowed to operate a taxi service in the Chinese capital.
Pony.ai, which is backed by Toyota, are the first company to be granted a taxi licence in China for autonomous vehicles. They recently received permission to operate 100 vehicles in Nansha, Guangzhou and have reported having completed over 700,000 journeys since April 2022.
While both companies have been granted permission to operate a taxi service in Beijing, neither has been granted an actual taxi licence.
Both companies are only allowed to operate within a specific area of the city. When trials first started, they were limited to around 8 square miles. This area has now increased to cover around 25 square miles of the Chinese capital.
During daytime hours, passengers can hail an autonomous cab via an app on their smartphone. The service is not currently available in the evening. This is likely a safety precaution.
Are they really driverless?
Pony.ai has been granted permission to test their autonomous vehicles without safety supervisors on board. However, they cannot be carrying members of the public.
Currently, all autonomous taxis have an onboard supervisor. These safety supervisors are required to sit in the front passenger seat for all journeys as a safety precaution. This is what’s known as Level 4 Autonomy.
When it comes to autonomous vehicles, there are 5 different levels of autonomy:
Level 1 - Driver Assistance
Under certain conditions, the car controls either the steering or the vehicle speed. Examples of this are adaptive cruise control and lane assist.
Level 2 - Partial Automation
Level 2 autonomy means the vehicle can steer, accelerate and brake if circumstances are right. The driver is still required to perform any significant manoeuvres, like responding to traffic lights, lane changes and monitoring hazards.
Level 3 - Conditional Automation
At this level, vehicles can manage most of the driving, including monitoring the environment. However, a driver still needs to be present, as the system will sometimes need the driver to intervene when it encounters a scenario it can’t navigate.
Level 4 - High Automation
This is the level that Baidu and Pony.ai’s autonomous taxis are currently at. Driving facilities like a steering wheel and pedals remain, but driver input isn’t required in most situations. Exceptions to this would be certain road types, poor weather or other geographic restrictions.
Level 5 - Full Automation
This is the holy grail of autonomous vehicles and what people imagine when you say ‘driverless’ cars. This is a vehicle that can operate on any road and in any conditions a human driver could.
When will autonomous vehicles be a reality?
It seems like there are stories everywhere claiming autonomous cars will be available to the public by ‘the end of this year’. But the truth is, we’re just not there yet.
We are still a few years away from fully autonomous vehicles being a common sight on UK roads. There are plenty of concerns around the safety of driverless cars. All the big players in the industry have suffered crashes and other problems that prevent them from being able to enter the market.
Aside from the vehicles, the UK road network isn’t necessarily ready for autonomous cars. Potholes are a huge problem on UK roads and road signs can often be hidden or faded. Not to mention, roads in some UK towns are built on top of thoroughfares that are thousands of years old. They hardly lend themselves to cars at the best of times!
Despite the problems, most estimates suggest that 2025 is when we should start seeing these vehicles on the road. We think that’s an over-ambitious estimate to keep the investors happy. It almost seems more likely that eVTOL taxis will be in use before autonomous cars.