China s first autonomous bus line debuts By TAN YINGZI and DENG RUI in Chongqing | China Daily | Updated: 2021-04-16 09:10 Share Passengers board an autonomous bus in Chongqing. [Photo by WANG QUANCHAO/XINHUA]
China s first autonomous bus line started commercial operations in Yongchuan district of Chongqing on Monday with passengers boarding a red Baidu Robobus bus for city trips. I did not expect the bus to run so smoothly. There was no shaking or any sudden braking, a middle-aged woman passenger told Chongqing Morning Post. The seats are very comfortable and I will certainly take the bus again.
Robobus, developed by Chinese tech giant Baidu, is a Level-4 autonomous driving bus. It is 5.9 meters long and can carry 19 passengers at a cruise speed of 40 to 60 kilometers per hour. Level-4 autonomy means that the vehicle can drive autonomously in most conditions without a human driver.
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Robobus and Apolong will commence trial operations on public roads in the city
Going forward, Baidu is expected to deploy over 100 Robotaxis and establish almost 1,000 pickup stations in Guangzhou Huangpu District
BEIJING, Feb. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) today deployed a multi-modal autonomous driving MaaS (mobility as a service) platform that will provide AI-driven city transportation services in Guangzhou. Utilizing a fleet of Apollo Robotaxis and Robobuses along with three other model types of autonomous vehicles, this initiative will allow local users to order smart transport services on demand, starting in the Chinese New Year holiday period. The implementation of both Baidu Apollo and the ACE Transportation Engine is a testament to the promising commercialization prospects of smart transportation in the intelligent era.