Pony.ai permitted to deploy Robotaxis without safety drivers onboard in Guangzhou

Beijing (Gasgoo)- On April 21, Chinese autonomous driving solution provider Pony.ai was granted the first and only remote passenger-carrying permit by the city of Guangzhou, allowing the company to launch fully unmanned Robotaxi services without safety drivers in the vehicle. 

Photo credit: Pony.ai

Residents in Guangzhou can now enjoy safe, convenient, and comfortable autonomous driving services by hailing a ride via the company’s PonyPilot+ mobile app.

Guangzhou is one of the first cities in China to grant permission for remote testing of autonomous vehicles, and has set stringent safety and reliability requirements for autonomous driving software and hardware systems. These requirements have established a quantifiable benchmark for the performance and capabilities of autonomous vehicles based on real-time data monitoring.

Pony.ai has been conducting remote testing in Guangzhou since June 2021 and has been offering Robotaxi services without safety drivers to selected users. After nearly two years of testing, the company has accumulated rich experience in remote testing operations, including extreme weather conditions like rain, fog, and lightning, as well as complex driving scenarios such as crossroads, narrow roads, flooded roads, and roads without lane markings.

With the new permit, users within an 803-square-kilometer area in the Nansha district of Guangzhou can call for a truly driverless autonomous vehicle via the PonyPilot+ app to travel to destinations such as railway stations, subway stations, key commercial areas, residential communities, and public parks. During the journey, passengers can communicate with remote assistance experts in real-time via voice chat if they need support.