The world’s first fully autonomous taxi service launched in Singapore yesterday, as the world moves rapidly towards fully autonomous driving.
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NuTonomy will invite select customers through its app to take a free ride in a self-driving auto that employs the company’s revolutionary software which works with highly-accurate sensors on the vehicle. “I think it will change how people interact with the city going forward”. The cars that are being tested are a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle that nuTonomy has specially configured for autonomous driving. Chinese internet giant Baidu says that it has tested self-driving cars on roads for years, but nuTonomy’s is considered to first to open these vehicles up for public use. Others have already tested the cars on public roads in the USA and many other countries.
This trial represents the first, rapid result of this partnership. nuTonomy is the first, and to date only, private enterprise approved by the Singapore government to test AVs on public roads.
In addition to Singapore, nuTonomy is operating self-driving cars in parts of MI and the United Kingdom. The service is now available in Singapore and only a few have had the chance to test it as the company only has six cars and sends invitations to people who want to use the service. She accepted that she was nervy when she entered the vehicle, and later was surprised to witness the steering wheel spin by itself.
Ms Olivia Seow, who also tried it, said she would “definitely” consider taking driverless taxis once they are widely available.
Self-driving taxis came into focus after Uber Technologies Inc. said it will soon allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon autonomous cars with their phones.
“I couldn’t see them with my human eye, but the auto could, so I knew that I could trust the vehicle”, she said.
“I’ve been following the technology for a while, so I was quite excited to try it out”, said the 26-year-old.
An Associated Press reporter using the service on Wednesday observed that the safety driver had to brake once, when a auto was obstructing the taxi’s lane and another vehicle, which appeared to be parked, suddenly moved into the oncoming lane.
Iagnemma said the company is confident that its software can make good decisions.
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Durbin reported from Detroit.
