Baidu launches Robotaxi service to citizens in Changsha

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On April 19, Baidu Apollo announced the official launch of Baidu Apollo Robotaxi service is now fully available to users in Changsha. The public can enjoy  free ride a free ride in an Apollo autonomous vehicle via ordering service on Baidu Maps or Baidu APP’s Smart Mini program Dutaxi. Apollo Robotaxi thus becomes the first to offer self-driving taxi service open to the public through an application with nationwide users.

It is said that users can order an unmanned car after selecting the site recommended by the system and improving the identity information. Apollo Robotaxis will operate within an area of 130 square kilometers in Changsha, covering various residential and commercial leisure areas as well as industrial parks.

To improve passenger’s ride experience, a display which can show the obstacles and dynamic prediction within a 360-degree field of view is equipped behind the front seats in the car, to present the traffic status of passing vehicles, lanes, intersections, traffic lights and offer speed limit and lane change alerts for backseat passengers. Users can also get such information as speed and remaining mileage through the interface in real time. At the same time, passengers can change music in the cockpit. During the pandemic period, the Robotaxi will provide temperature measurement and disinfection measures.

When a user books a taxi on Baidu Map App, if there is Robotaxi available nearby, the map will give priority to recommending the free travel of the driverless car. That is to say, Baidu is taking Changsha as the center to start recommending Robotaxi to ordinary citizens.

Recently, Baidu Apollo has just released ACE Transportation Engine to build a full-stack intelligent traffic solution with vehicle-road-cloud-map integrated adopt ACE Transportation Engine.

Apart from Changsha, Baidu Apollo is currently conducting self-driving tests in Beijing, Cangzhou and other places.