DRIVERLESS CARS YANDEX ROLLS OUT
Russian technology giant Yandex has begun to test self- driving taxis in Innopolis, a small town built a few years ago to foster education in tech- nology and entre- preneurship. Yandex describes the tests in a blog- post as the first autonomous ride- hailing service in Europe. About
100 resi-
dents have already signed up for the pilot scheme, with the first journeys in two vehicles taking place at the end of August.
‘EUROPE’S FIRST’ SELF-DRIVING CABS IN RUSSIA “We’ve
received
very positive reac- tions so far both from passengers and pedestrians,” Artem Fokin, head of business devel- opment at Yandex Taxi Self-Driving, told ZDNet. At the moment, passengers who hail a taxi can travel free of charge between five stan- dard locations in Innopolis, including the university, a local business cen- tre, and a resi- dential area. The average ride is just over 2km or 1.25 miles. The two
autonomous cars, Toyota Prius mod- els equipped with Yandex technology, detect
objects
around them with centimetre preci- sion and compare them against pre- loaded maps. Yandex told ZDNet that its taxis run in all weather and traffic conditions. However, for the time being they will have a safety engi- neer
in the
passenger seat. Yandex said the autonomous ride- hailing service is a natural step for- ward
for the
company. The Rus- sian internet giant has already tested its cars on the busy streets of Moscow, and
has also
offered passenger rides aboard its autonomous vehi- cles on test tracks. The Russian engi- neers plan to use the feedback they receive from pas- sengers to develop their autonomous technology. They also want to expand the Innop- olis project,
to
include more pick- up locations and additional vehicles. At some point,
Yandex taxis will operate without a safety engineer in the
passenger
seat. “[W]e plan to move from testing to the commercial phase as soon as legisla- tion allows us to do so,” Fokin said. “In the future, we plan to provide a full- scale autonomous ride-hailing service in other cities in Russia.” Yandex’s Innopolis project comes at a time when several technology compa- nies are stepping up their efforts in the autonomous
car business. In
June, Waymo’s CEO John Krafcik said his company might bring ride- hailing services to the European mar- ket. Uber, which com- bined operations with Yandex last year in more than a hundred cities in Russia and neigh- boring countries, has recently part- nered with Toyota. The car maker has invested $500m in bringing on-de- mand autonomous ride-hailing ser- vices to the mar- ket.
PASSENGERS HAIL ‘WORLD FIRST’ TEST RUN FOR SELF-DRIVING TAXI IN TOKYO
Paying customers have been trans- ported through the busy streets of Tokyo in what has been billed as a world first public test drive for self- driving taxis. Sky News reports that
the auto-
nomous car - devel- oped by Japanese technology
firm
ZMP and cab com- pany
Hinomaru
Kotsu - carried three volunteer pas- sengers just over three miles on its maiden voyage bet- ween the Otemachi and Roppongi dis- tricts. Sensors were equip-
50
ped on the minivan- style vehicle to ensure it could tra- verse safely, al- though a driver was present just in case direct control was required for trickier portions of
the
route. Nonetheless, ZMP and Hinomaru Kotsu are aiming to have an entire fleet of self-driving taxis operating in the Japanese capital in time for the 2020 Olympics. ZMP managing director Akihiro Nishima said the test was the first to involve driverless taxis and paying
ral that I almost for- got
it was a
The RoboCar MiniVan (R) compared to a more traditional cab
passengers, adding: “We want people without access to public transporta- tion to have easier access to it.” One of the passen-
gers on the first test run - who unlocked the doors and paid the
1,500 yen
(£10.46) fare via a smartphone app - hailed it as “so natu-
self-driving car”. More trials will take place over the next few weeks, with 1,500 people report- ed to have applied to take part. Before the end of the year, the two companies behind the initiative are hoping to take the vehicles - dubbed the RoboCar Mini- Van - onmore ambitious
routes
connecting Haneda airport and various transport hubs with- in Tokyo. Hopes for the pro- ject are high, with the TokyoMetropoli-
tan Government having agreed to partly fund the trials in the hope of ensur- ing the vehicles are ready for the next Olympics, when an influx of tourists will mean greater de- mand for public transport. The tests came just as Japanese car giant Toyota an- nounced it was teaming up with Uber to develop their own self-driv- ing vehicles. Uberis hoping to roll-out a pilot pro- gramme by 2021 thanks
to the
$500m (£389m) Toyota investment.
OCTOBER 2018
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