After autonomous taxis, China has now started operating driverless autonomous buses.
Shenzhen in Guangdong province starts running regular routes for autonomous buses at the end of this month for the first time. Autonomous taxis are already operating in 17 cities across China.
According to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone website, the Shenzhen Bus Group recently obtained the qualifications to test smart network-connected vehicles and approval to operate four autonomous bus routes in Shenzhen and plans to launch the first autonomous bus route, B998, by the end of July.
The B998 is a circular route that connects subway stations, central business districts, industrial parks, and cultural tourism spots. The scheme is to operate 20 autonomous buses on this route by the end of the year. The fare is 1 yuan (about $0.15). The Shenzhen Bus Group has decided to allow free usage for a trial period.
These buses operate at Level 4 (L4) of autonomous driving, meaning no drivers are necessary even to drive in the city center. However, according to the Smart Network Vehicle Management Regulations of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, autonomous buses must have a manual mode and at least one safety officer onboard who can take emergency measures. On the contrary, the Shenzhen Bus Group has clarified that “no manual intervention is necessary for any of the vehicle’s driving operations.”
The vehicles are 9-seater mini buses equipped with high-definition cameras, millimeter-wave radar, and lidar to detect, judge, and respond to surrounding vehicles, pedestrians, and other objects and changing road conditions in 360 degrees. According to the Shenzhen Bus Group, the car has an intelligent interactive display that shows the surrounding traffic situation detected by the vehicle sensor, autonomous driving information, and the vehicle’s driving route in real time, assuring passengers to board.
Shenzhen is accelerating the connection and spread of smart city functions and intelligent network-connected vehicles. The Chinese government has selected Shenzhen as a pilot city for the integrated application of road cloud for intelligent network vehicles, and it is also speeding up the construction of intelligent road infrastructure.
As major cities in China are fiercely competing in the practical application field of autonomous driving, Xu Wei, deputy director of the Shenzhen Transportation Bureau, recently declared at a forum, “We will make Shenzhen the leading autonomous driving city in China, starting with smart connected cars and functional unmanned vehicles.”
