While the taxis will be limited to the 2.5-square-mile district, nuTonomy aims to eventually expand the model to cities around the world. A human driver will always be behind the wheel to take over should something go wrong.
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“In Singapore, we have much less uncertainty”, Iagnemma said.
Singapore is the first country to launch self-driving taxis.
The taxi was created by nuTonomy, which was started by two researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The autonomous taxi service starts with six cars and a select number of residents in Singapore’s tech-heavy “one-north” district. “This is really a moment in history that’s going to change how cities are built, how we really look at our surroundings”, Reuters report published in ET quoted nuTonomy executive Doug Parker as saying.
The vehicles will be fully autonomous but an engineer from the company will ride in the vehicle both to monitor its performance and to also take over control if required at some point for safety or other reasons. NuTonomy announced a research partnership with Singapore’s Land Transport Authority earlier this month. Singapore, the company says, is ideal because it has good weather, good infrastructure, and drivers that tend to obey traffic rules.
This trial, even though it was a small one, shows how intense the race for developing autonomous vehicles is. But this new scheme is operated by a relatively-unknown autonomous vehicle software startup called nuTonomy. “We want to get a cross-section of society into our auto”. This could mean less space for the passengers, but for the ones who don’t mind can ride for free.
“It felt like there was a ghost or something”, she said. The ride was smooth and controlled, she said, and she was relieved to see that the vehicle recognized even small obstacles like birds and motorcycles parked in the distance.
During the trail a NuTonomy engineer will be seated in the auto to “observe systems performance and assume control if needed to ensure passenger comfort and safety”.
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However, it’s not the only firm that is looking at ways to promote autonomous driving.
