BEIJING: China’s autonomous driving sector is gaining momentum with a massive expansion of road tests rolling out across the country.
In this new phase, technology is making its way through the vibrant streets of populous metropolises, navigating the challenging topography of mountainous regions, and penetrating industries such as agriculture and retail.
“For China, each road test is a step toward a future in which smart mobility redefines urban and rural commuting, with self-driving cars at the forefront of the transportation revolution,” said Du Xiaoping, CTO of the National Innovation Cloud Platform. Center for Intelligent and Connected Vehicles.
By the end of 2023, the central Chinese metropolis of Wuhan has opened 3,379 km of one-way test roads covering an area of 3,000 square km, benefiting 7.7 million local residents.
Just a month before the second anniversary of the city’s autonomous driving pilot program, the technology has now advanced to truly driverless operation with no safety devices on board. The fleet has since expanded to more than 500 vehicles and expanded operations to include cross-county travel and night driving, making Wuhan the world’s largest operating area for autonomous driving services, local authorities said.
The presence of autonomous buses and taxis is not new even in the mountainous city of Chongqing in southwest China. One of its districts, Yongchuan, has recorded 1,446 km of two-way test roads covering a total of 1,576 square km designated for driverless vehicles.
Road tests have now reached China’s vast northern and western inland cities. In Hohhot, northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China’s first cross-border freight corridor designed for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) became fully operational last month.
“Testing autonomous vehicles in such complex and diverse environments is essential for collecting a large amount of training data, which in turn drives the advancement of autonomous driving technology in various regions across China,” said Chen Zhuo, CEO of Baidu’s Autonomous Driving Division.
Smart connected cars, buses, cleaning vans, patrol vans and retail vans are also becoming commonplace in economically vibrant cities.
