Guangzhou government announced to pilot driverless taxi service in Nansha district recently. The Robotaxi, a self-driving ride-hailing service launched by Nansha-based Pony.ai, commercialized its service based on the official pricing criteria for taxi in Guangzhou on June 30.
Pony.ai received the driverless taxi license in April 2022, which makes Pony.ai the first self-driving company to achieve the taxi license in China and allows it to operate 100 driverless taxis in Nansha.
Ma Shu, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou Municipal Government, said two models of passenger vehicles and a model of commercial vehicle launched by Pony.ai have passed a series of tests organized by national testing institutions, and were approved as the first batch of IoT vehicles for pilot operation on June 29.
Passengers could hail self-driving cars through the PonyPilot+ App between 8:30 and 22:30, and pay by Ali Pay or Wechat Pay, said Mo Luyi, Vice CEO of Pony.ai. She elaborated that 5 hundred stops across Nansha could be selected by passengers to get on or get off the Robotaxi, covering residential areas, shopping centers, traffic hubs, schools and hospitals. Currently there is still a safety driver behind the wheel.
At the first phase of pilot operation, all passengers could enjoy a free ride for the first order, and 20 percent discount for following trips.
“Robotaxi has been running tests in Nansha for more than 3 years and the mileage of operation reached 200 thousand kilometers with no involvement in any active liability traffic accidents,” said Mo.
According to Nansha government, Pony.ai has completed 700 thousand taxi orders by April this year with 99 percent positive comments.
Guangzhou is the first batch of Chinese cities to give automatic driving green light on the pilot roads and areas. With a well-developed auto industry, Guangzhou has attracted some of the top self-driving companies including Baidu’s Apollo, Pony.ai, WeRide and DiDi’s Voyager, and has issued 201 test licenses.
By 2025, Nansha will carry out on-road operation test for up to 2000 intelligent connected self-driving vehicles, said Ma Shu.
Author 丨Nina
Editor丨Wing, Keane, Jasmine, Jerry
