Baidu Apollo starts paid Robotaxi service in Changsha

Beijing (Gasgoo)- Baidu’s autonomous driving mobility service, Apollo Go, started off pilot paid commercial operation in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province. 

Photo credit: Baidu

As one of the earliest cities to adopt autonomous mobility services in China, Changsha holds a favorable ecosystem and test environment for the intelligent connected vehicle industry. The city established a national-level intelligent connected vehicle test area and a 100-square-kilometer intelligent connected open city road area. It constructed 100km of intelligent highway and a 7.8-km smart bus demonstration route.

The achievements created the fundamental conditions for the development of Apollo Go’s commercialization in the city. 

In an effort to accelerate the commercial application of intelligent connected vehicles, Changsha has recently opened up the fourth phase of intelligent connected vehicle test and demonstration roads, adding 142 kilometers to the existing distance, summing up to a total open road distance of 317 kilometers. 

In order to further expand the scope of the testing roads, the city improved the accessibility and connectivity across the open road area, enriching the test scenarios.

As of now, Baidu’s Apollo Go service has accumulated more than 1 million kilometers of autonomous driving distance in Changsha, transporting more than 100,000 passengers safely to their destinations. According to the company’s plan, the paid Robotaxi service covers Meixi Lake and Yang Lake neighborhoods in the Xiangjiang New Area, with a fleet of 30 autonomous vehicles serving 311 stations.