Seoul City said that self-driving vehicles will join public transportation for the first time this week, ushering in a new era for such vehicles.
The city government said Monday that three self-driving passenger cars will start operating to transport ordinary citizens on Tuesday in Sangam-dong, western Seoul, which has been designated as a pilot area for self-driving cars, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The government also said that the three self-driving cars will transport passengers between the DMC station and nearby apartment blocks and office areas.
It added that the service will be operated through a pre-booking system until Saturday, and passengers are required to call vehicles through the TAP self-driving car app and then wait at the designated stop.
"The service marks the first step towards the era of commercializing autonomous vehicles as a means of transportation, where citizens can use them freely," said a Seoul government official.The government reported that by the end of December, three more self-driving vehicles, including a self-driving bus, will start operating on the same road in Sangam-dong.
China is also on the way
And Asia too, a few days ago, Beijing approved the first self-driving taxis for commercial use, and deployed dozens of "Robotaxes" in the streets of the Chinese capital.
Robotaxi looks like a regular car, but this white taxi is driverless and communicates with customers digitally to get directions and take payment.
These cars can only carry two passengers at a time, and their trips are limited to Yizhuang district in the south of the city.
An employee of the taxi company also sits at the front of the car in anticipation of any need for sudden intervention, but the car drives itself.
The launch of "Robotaxi" is an important step in the self-driving ambitions of Chinese tech giant Baidu and startup Pony.i, which were given the go-ahead to deploy the cars Thursday.
However, it is expected that it will take years before taxis can operate without any human intervention due to regulations and safety requirements.
Developers hope that Chinese consumers will quickly get used to the idea of driverless transportation, as they have already embraced e-commerce, online payments and other digital solutions.
The Toyota-backed start-up reported that more than 500,000 trips were made with its cars during the early stages of testing.