Driverless Buses: Coming to a Chinese City Near You

By Krishna Barot, July 17, 2018

It might not be long until you spot a sleek new method of public transport cruising Chinese roadways: driverless buses!

On July 4, during Baidu’s annual AI developers conference in Beijing, CEO Robin Li announced that the company had commissioned the production of 100 unmanned buses and that the new vehicles would soon be ready for their debut, according to Pandaily.

“2018 marks the first year of commercialization for autonomous driving,” declared Li at the event.

The futuristic new transportation method, dubbed the ‘Apolong’ self-driving bus, is a joint project between Baidu and Chinese bus manufacturer King Long. About one-third of the size of a normal bus, the eight-seater Apolong (which also has room for six standing passengers) has no steering wheel, driver’s seat, accelerator or brake and is solely controlled by AI technology.

According to a statement from King Long, the buses can travel at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour for a distance of up to 100 kilometers on a two-hour charge.

Image via Pandaily

The Society of Automotive Engineers have stated that the buses operate at the ‘fourth level’ of automation, meaning that the vehicles can operate in an enclosed area without human intervention. This is quite an impressive leap for AI’s ongoing integration into real-world scenarios, considering the ‘fourth level’ is second highest level of automation possible. (Fifth level automation means a vehicle can operate anywhere on any road in any scenario).

The first batch of Apolong buses will reportedly go into use in cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing as well as the Xiong’an area, and will be operating in enclosed areas like airports and tourist spots, according to NewsGD. The buses will also debut in Tokyo and will be used to transport people in nuclear power plants and seniors' communities.

The trial and testing of self-driving buses isn’t solely limited to China, as countries like France, the Netherlands and Dubai have been experimenting with this technology on their roads. Self-driving buses are already in use in Paris, where passengers can shuttle between two train stations, according to BBC.

[Cover image via NewsGD]