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WUHAN: Driverless taxis are gaining attention as they cruise past office buildings and shopping malls, sparking wariness and confusion as they slowly spread across Chinese cities. Chinese technology companies and automakers have invested billions of dollars in driverless technology in recent years, seeking to catch up with industry leaders in the United States.
Today, Wuhan has one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, with more than 500 taxis that can be hailed via an app, just like regular taxis. At an intersection in Wuhan’s industrial zone, reporters saw at least five self-driving taxis weaving in and out of normal traffic. “It looks a bit magical, like something out of a science fiction movie,” said a local named Yang. But not everyone shared Yang’s awe.
In April, a fatal accident involving a Huawei-backed Aito car sparked a debate about safety after the company said its automatic braking system failed. Last month, a minor collision between a pedestrian who ran a red light and a Wuhan self-driving taxi raised concerns again. Taxi drivers and workers at traditional ride-hailing companies are also worried about being replaced by artificial intelligence – even though the technology is far from mature. Wuhan’s driverless taxis are part of tech giant Baidu’s Apollo Go project, which first received a license to operate in the city in 2022. Initially, just five self-driving cars will ferry passengers around 13 square kilometers in the city of about 14 million people.
Baidu said the taxis are now operating in an area of 3,000 square kilometers, more than a third of Wuhan’s total land area, including a small part of the city center. By comparison, U.S. leader Waymo said its largest area is 816 square kilometers in Arizona. When the car arrives at the pickup point, passengers scan a QR code with their phone to unlock the vehicle – the front seats are blocked for safety reasons.
Fares for self-driving taxis are currently heavily discounted, with a 30-minute ride costing just 39 yuan ($5.43), compared with 64 yuan for regular taxis. “They’ve taken our jobs, so of course we don’t like them,” said Deng Haibing, a Wuhan taxi driver who used the word “livelihood” to describe his livelihood. Deng said he was concerned that self-driving taxi companies would squeeze traditional drivers out of the market by subsidizing fares and then raise prices once they become dominant — a strategy similar to that used by ride-hailing apps in the 2010s.
“The impact is not too big at the moment because self-driving taxis are not fully popular yet and cannot be driven everywhere,” Deng said. The self-driving taxi fleet is just a small part of the tens of thousands of taxis and online ride-hailing vehicles in Wuhan. Still, more and more Chinese cities are rolling out policies to promote self-driving services as part of the country’s bid for technological hegemony. Baidu and domestic rival Pony.ai have been testing models with different levels of self-driving in industrial parks across the country for years.
Last month, Shanghai issued its first batch of temporary permits for fully autonomous vehicles, and the capital Beijing approved a trial of fully autonomous taxis in its suburbs. The southwestern city of Chongqing and the southern tech hub of Shenzhen are also running pilot projects. Tom Nunlist, a technology policy analyst at Trivium China, said that from a technical perspective, self-driving taxis still have a long way to go before they become popular. “Everyone seems to think that autonomous driving is inevitable, but frankly, I don’t know that it is inevitable,” he said. “Right now, fully autonomous driving technology is not ready for large-scale deployment,” he said.
Even with Wuhan’s Apollo Go taxis, which can spot obstacles and wait cautiously at intersections, the ultimate responsibility for safety still lies with human officers who remotely monitor the ride. During one Apollo Go ride, someone manipulated the car’s built-in touchscreen to remind a reporter to fasten their seatbelts. “Safety personnel provide strong protection for your ride through remote 5G-assisted technology,” the Apollo Go app tells users. Robot taxis are also far from replicating the human sense of touch.
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