from the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone.
To begin, Pony.ai will test 10 robotaxis — completely driverless — “in challenging urban traffic scenarios across a 20 square kilometer area in the pilot zone in Yizhuang, Beijing.” While robotaxi testing often involves safety drivers sitting in the vehicle to take over if needed, that won’t be the case here. There will only be safety officers monitoring remotely when the cars are in service.
If all goes well in this testing phase, Pony.ai will eventually get permission to deploy robotaxis for commercial service in Beijing, and perhaps more broadly. Beijing isn’t the home of Pony.ai’s first rodeo, though. The 6-year-old self-driving startup has also been testing in Guangzhou, China. Pony.ai has partnerships with Toyota, SAIC, SANY, FAW Group, and GAC Group. It is looking for first-mover advantage so that it can capitalize on “commercially competitive self-driving technology” in the coming years. Here’sabout the robotaxi trends and rules in Beijing: “Over the past year, the Beijing Intelligent Connected Vehicle Policy Pilot Zone has announced a number of industry-leading autonomous driving policies in succession.