A major breakthrough for the future of fully autonomous cars on public roads has occurred, as the world’s first self-driving taxi trail has begun in Singapore.
The pilot scheme has been set up by NuTonomy, a company that span out of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). NuTonomy has managed to get self-driving taxi cars on the road before the start of trials from major companies like Uber who are also investing in self-driving transport.
The fleet of cars involved in NuTonomy’s trial is small, comprising of six fully autonomous vehicles – based on either the Renault ZOE or Mitsubishi i-MiEV. These cars have been made available for members of the public to use as taxis within Singapore, although the predetermined pick-up and drop-off points will only be within a 2.5-square-mile radius.
The passengers that’ll use these self-driving cars during the trial have already been chosen, as local residents were asked to apply to join the pilot scheme before they could request a car. But the trial is free to residents and each of the self-driving taxis will be accompanied by an engineer sitting behind the wheel and a researcher who will sit in the back and take notes during the trial.
While it may be on a small scale, the start of this trial by NuTonomy will be widely considered a major step forward towards a future where our roads will be dominated by self-driving public transport.
If the trial is successful, NuTonomy are aiming to put at least a dozen self-driving taxis on local roads by the end of the year. The company is also aiming to have a full self-driving fleet in operation in Singapore by 2018.
In similar news, Uber are planning to launch their own self-driving taxi service in Pittsburgh later this month. Uber are using modified Volvo XC90 SUVs for their trial and, unlike NuTonomy’s trial, the service will be offered to random passengers rather than pre-registered users.
