Driverless taxis cause traffic chaos in China

Hundreds of driverless robotaxis from Chinese tech giant Baidu are causing traffic mayhem in Wuhan. The fleet, known for driving overly cautiously, is triggering traffic jams and frustrating residents, Bloomberg reports.

This phenomenon isn't unique to China. Similar driverless services in the U.S. have also struggled, with vehicles failing to adhere to traffic rules, getting involved in crashes, and even being pulled over by confused police officers. These incidents highlight the ongoing technical challenges of autonomous driving in real-world conditions.

Currently, Baidu's robotaxi services are limited to trial areas in Wuhan, yet they are already struggling to adapt to the city's driving culture, which often ignores traffic regulations. Baidu has deployed over 500 electric robotaxis in Wuhan, about half of what it plans to roll out by year-end under its Apollo Go brand.

While the fleet is a small fraction of Wuhan's total taxi population, gig workers fear job losses as autonomous vehicle technology advances. "It is exciting to witness robotaxis become reality, yet it’s not clear how taxi drivers will face the challenge, and how the government will strike a balance between technological breakthroughs and weak labor market conditions," wrote Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, in a Bloomberg note.

Baidu's aggressive rollout includes significant ride discounts, undercutting human-operated taxis, a strategy experts worry might not be commercially sustainable. The broader question of whether this approach will be successful remains unanswered. Notably, U.S. companies like Alphabet's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise face similar integration challenges, underscoring the global nature of these issues.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk's Tesla is expected to unveil its own robotaxi later this year, but whether it can catch up with competitors is uncertain.

[Information sourced from Bloomberg]