China Launches First Paid Autonomous Taxi Service

Beijing Grants Pilot Commercial Operation Permits for Apollo Go Robotaxi and PonyAI
Chinese Media Assess Imminent Era of Unmanned Autonomous Taxi Services

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China has launched a pilot service for commercial unmanned autonomous taxis.

According to Chinese media including Beijing Daily on the 26th, Beijing city authorities approved paid autonomous taxi pilot services for 'Baidu (Apollo Go Robotaxi)' and 'Xiaomazixing (Pony AI)' the day before.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

This is the first permit for paid autonomous taxi operation. Since last year, China has been conducting free autonomous vehicle pilot operations in five cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Chinese media emphasized the significance of the paid autonomous pilot service, evaluating that the era of unmanned taxi services is imminent.

The paid unmanned taxi pilot service is limited to a 60㎢ area in the Beijing Southern Economic and Technological Development Zone, with operating hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Huanqiu Shibao explained that unmanned autonomous taxis can be summoned via a dedicated app, and the fare is the same as that of premium taxis in China. It added that the first user the day before traveled 2.1 km and paid a fare of 1.24 yuan (approximately 231 KRW).

Baidu, which operates Apollo Go Robotaxi, will run a total of 67 autonomous taxis during the paid pilot service period.

Wang Shengnan, head of Baidu's autonomous driving service, expressed confidence in the technical aspects, saying, "During the paid service period, we will test whether users are willing to pay."

Xiaomazixing, which also received the operation permit along with Baidu, stated, "We have processed a total of 500,000 reservations until last month," emphasizing both technical and safety aspects. The Chinese autonomous driving technology startup Xiaoma Zixing received an investment of $462 million (approximately 550 billion KRW) from Toyota Japan last year.

Chen Xuesong, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out, "Although the commercialization of unmanned autonomous taxis is imminent, various issues such as traffic regulations, safety, automobile insurance, and data security still remain to be resolved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.