Chinese taxi drivers sue self-driving car service for job 'snatching'

The Apollo Go service, which launched in August 2022, has become so popular in the city of 13.7 million that local taxi drivers are petitioning the city's transport authority to restrict it.

A Baidu Apollo Go robot taxi in Wuhan. Photo: Reuters

In late June, local transportation company Wuhan Jianshe said four of its 159 traditional taxis had stopped operating since April due to falling income, according to a report by Southern Weekly. The company accused the robot taxis of “taking away jobs from local workers.”

Earlier in May, Baidu said it had reported several cases involving the spread of false information about Apollo Go on social media to police and more than 10 suspects had been arrested.

While Baidu said passengers were generally satisfied with Apollo Go, scoring an average of 4.9 out of 5 for service quality, its fleet was also the subject of more than 300 complaints from Wuhan residents on a government-run traffic management website, alleging that taxis were too slow to respond to traffic lights.

An accident earlier this week involving a Baidu robot taxi in Wuhan also raised safety concerns. A minor collision with an electric scooter left an Apollo Go with scratches.

The scooter driver was rushed to hospital, suffered no serious injuries and is currently under medical observation, an Apollo Go representative said, adding that the company is cooperating with the police investigation.

In an internal letter in April, Wang Yunpeng, head of Baidu's intelligent driving team, said the company's self-driving car project was finally on track to become profitable after years of investment.

Chen Zhuo, general manager of Baidu's autonomous driving division, said recently that the company expects Apollo Go to expand its fleet in Wuhan to 1,000 vehicles and break even locally by the end of this year.

Wuhan is a pioneer in China in opening up urban areas to robot taxi services, calling itself " the world's largest autonomous driving service area".

Other cities, such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, have also allowed robotaxis to operate on designated routes or areas, although they are not as extensive as in Wuhan.

Baidu aims to “replicate Wuhan’s successful experience” in other cities in the future, Mr. Chen said. The company has previously said it plans to deploy Apollo Go in 100 cities by the end of the decade.

Ngoc Anh (according to SCMP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tai-xe-taxi-trung-quoc-kien-dich-vu-xe-tu-lai-vi-bi-cuop-viec-lam-post302898.html