Can robotaxis ease public transport fears in China?

The rise of self-driving taxis in China comes at a time when people are nervous about taking public transport. Robotaxi providers plan to ramp up the number of driverless cars they are putting on the roads to cater to the increased demand. One of the leading players AutoX is rolling out 100 autonomous vehicles in Shanghai by June.

The start-up is one of several Chinese companies quickly moving to offer self-driving taxi services to the public. "The pandemic has made our society realise that we need self-driving cars for situations like this," said a spokesman for AutoX, which is backed by Chinese internet giant Alibaba. "RoboTaxi with its self-disinfecting capabilities and driverless logistics could save lots of lives."

Internet search engine Baidu, China's answer to Google, is rolling out a fleet of its Apollo robotaxis across three cities in China, although it hasn't disclosed the number. Baidu worked with a number of carmakers including Toyota, Honda and Ford for the development of Apollo.

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