Baidu Announces World's First Multi-Modal Autonomous Transportation Service 

Baidu which has been dubbed the Google of China for years has followed the path of the Mountain View-based company yet again. It has followed Waymo's path in releasing a multi-model autonomous taxi service which is completely driverless in Guangzhou. The difference here is that instead of just focussing on autonomous cars, Baidu has gone one step further and released a suite of services for autonomous transportation which include 100 robotaxis, robot buses, Apololong, Apollocop, and new species vehicles. This has been made possible thanks to a collaboration between the internet giant and the Guangzhou Huangpu District Government. 

There will be over 40 different vehicle types which will serve the commuters in the Guangzhou region. Baidu has embedded its Apollo platform which is built on top of the BlackBerry QNX platform which is further infused with Baidu's location services. 

Baidu has a fleet of robotaxis which use Apollo

Baidu has added over 50 Robotaxis pickup stations in the district providing easy access during the Chinese New Year using autonomous vehicles. Overall, it will have 1000 pickup stations in the coming time.  They will also have a batch new species vehicles which will be cruising around the city with the mission of handling unmanned retail, routine cleaning and disinfection services. The Apolong minibus service will be a shuttle service for sightseeing while the Apollocop service will patrol the main roads near key areas. Lastly, the Baidu Robobus will ferry passengers along with fixed routes,  facilitating community travels towards festive destinations. 

Baidu's autonomous driving platform is called Apollo

Baidu is infusing the service with its network of roadside AI infrastructure and a dynamic digital twin cloud platform fostering better mobility and travel prospects for the local community. This includes services like real-time signal light information, Baidu maps, or a DuerOS powered smart rearview mirror to receive voice alerts of electronic fence monitoring and live traffic event view. 

It also has the ACE transportation engine which is full-stack solution of autonomous driving, connected road and efficient mobility reflecting the status of Guangzhou as a smart city. This is a continuation of what Baidu has achieved in China in areas alike Beijing and Changsha.