Beijing E-Town experiments with free driverless taxi services

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Driverless taxi services are accelerating their drive to go commercial. The Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, recently announced that its driverless taxi-hailing service has expanded its service range. The service will now provide longer service hours and more comprehensive scenarios in the 150-square-kilometer core service area. Additionally, Beijing E-Town, being the first high-level automated driving demonstration area and China's first pilot zone for cloud-based self-driving vehicle policies, will also work toward commercialization of the service.

Pony.ai established its first domestic R&D center in Beijing E-Town. In June 2018, Pony.ai obtained the rights to use Beijing T3 autonomous driving license plates, becoming the first startup in the world to receive such a license. Then, in May 2020, Pony.ai received authorization to test self-driving vehicles in Beijing with a driver on board.

In April this year, the Beijing municipal government approved a blueprint aimed at building a pilot zone in southern Beijing, which mainly covers the 225-square-kilometers earmarked for the development of Beijing E-Town and Daxing International Airport. The pilot zone will serve as a testing ground for qualified companies to try out commercializing their autonomous vehicle services for passenger transportation and logistics.

The high-level automated driving demonstration area issued the first batch of 30 autonomous driving licenses, allowing road tests on high-speed and fast sections of six test roads, which cover 143 kilometers in the area encompassing Beijing E-Town and Daxing International Airport. This means that companies such as Pony.ai can expand their services and provide autonomous driving services for people in Beijing on a larger scale. 

The travel services provided by Pony.ai now cover an operating area of 150 square kilometers. The services span areas around subway stations, parks, communities, sports centers, and business districts. The operating hours run from 8.30am to 10.30pm, catering to the travel needs of the public.

Robotaxi, the name of the autonomous cars put into service in Beijing, are equipped with Pony.ai's new-generation autonomous driving system "PonyAlpha X," according to Zhang Ning, vice president of Pony.ai. Zhang said the system adopts multi-sensor technology, which guarantees 360-degree safe driving and no blind spots.

As Beijing advances its construction of the "two zones," the high-level automated driving demonstration area is evolving rapidly. According to the implementation plan of the policy pilot zone, if tests prove safe, Beijing E-Town may be the first place to pilot the commercial operations of driverless taxis and self-driving cars without the need for a safety officer on board.

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