That's right, Wuhan can already take driverless taxis. There is no safety officer in the driver's seat, only the kind where the steering wheel rotates on its own.
Source: Carrot RunIn the past few days, the driverless car "Carrot Run" has frequently appeared in the public eye. Judging from the video shared by netizens, users can take a taxi as long as they download the Radish Run APP or open the Radish Run applet on WeChat, and when the car arrives, you can see a small touch screen on the rear window of the car, and the four digits can unlock the door after entering the mobile phone. Passengers can only sit in the back, not in the passenger seat, and there is a transparent partition separating the front and rear seats in case anyone is curious to turn the steering wheel and press the trackpad.
The whole process of running a carrot and taking a taxi
According to Baidu's official information, "Radish Run" is an autonomous driving travel service platform launched by Baidu Apollo, which has opened manned test operation services in 11 cities, and carried out fully unmanned autonomous driving travel service tests in Beijing, Wuhan, Chongqing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. It is worth noting that the unmanned model on the market, that is, the sixth-generation unmanned vehicle of Radish Express, has a direct decrease of 60% compared with the fifth-generation car, and the price is only 204,600 yuan.
Source: Carrot Run official
Judging from the current response, the driverless cars put into Wuhan have attracted more attention. In the previous earnings call, Robin Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, mentioned that in early March, Radish Express had achieved 7x24 hours of all-weather operation in Wuhan, further improving service coverage and vehicle utilization. With the continuous improvement of operational efficiency and cost reduction, in the near future, Carrot Express will take the lead in achieving UE (Unit Economy) balance in the Wuhan region. Especially a few days ago (July 7), some netizens posted a video on the short video platform, saying that the "Radish Run" driverless taxi collided with pedestrians on the streets of Wuhan. The relevant person in charge of the Hanyang Brigade of the Traffic Management Bureau of the Wuhan Municipal Public Security Bureau said that the accident has been dealt with, and reminded the public that in the event of a traffic accident, they can call 122 to call the police, and after an accident with an unmanned car, the relevant company will send someone to deal with it.
According to Baidu's first-quarter financial report released in May this year, about 826,000 autonomous driving orders were supplied by "Carrot Run", a year-on-year increase of 25%. As of April 19, 2024, the company has provided more than 6 million orders for autonomous driving services to the public. As of 3 p.m. on July 11, the unmanned driving index was reported at 1171.50 points, an increase of 3%.
Responses to new things are mixed. Some experiencers reported that unmanned driving is very cool and easy to operate; Some citizens have also reported that driverless cars are occasionally slow to respond and occupy roads. Some people also pointed out that with the gradual promotion of driverless online car-hailing, will unmanned driving rob the "job" of taxi and online car-hailing drivers?
Guotai Junan Securities Research Report believes that the business model of Radish Express in Wuhan is expected to be replicated in other places, and autonomous driving may challenge the taxi online car-hailing industry. Some industry insiders have pointed out that many small and medium-sized cities cannot afford to operate public transportation, and the operators of unmanned vehicles can contract. For example, many times when you go to a place that is too close or too remote, you will often not be able to get a taxi or refuse to take a car, and unmanned vehicles give these long-tail needs a possibility.
However, the safety hazards of driverless cars cannot be ignored. At the same time, the commercialization of the autonomous driving industry also faces various challenges, such as autonomous driving legislation. Lian Yuming, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and founding president of the Beijing International Urban Development Research Institute, made it clear that the application of autonomous driving technology is an important pillar of intelligent manufacturing, an important part of the strategy of building a strong transportation country and one of the important ways to create new quality productivity.
We will all be involved in the future development of autonomous driving......
Source: Financial Times Client Reporter: Li Danlin Editor: Yu Siqing
Email: [email protected]