Self-Driving Taxi: Singapore Beats Rest Of The World
When it concerns a self-driving taxi, Singapore has the rest of the world beat. And the car is coming to America. Look out, Uber.
Community-oriented taxi service Uber has some impending competition with new company nuTonomy.
The Orange County Register reports Singapore’s driverless taxi as the first self-driving car to begin carrying passengers.
Moreover, Singapore’s self-driving car will be free for public usage.
Yet, there’s one stipulation.
In order to use the self-driving taxi, Singapore residents will have to be invited by nuTonomy.
Done with Testing, Now for Riding
The source reports that residents of Singapore’s “One North” sector have tried it out already and were pleasantly surprised.
Olivia Seow, 25, was selected to try one of the self-driving taxi’s test runs.
“It felt like there was a ghost or something,” she explained regarding the car’s steering experience.
According to the report, the Singapore resident rode less than a mile during the taxi’s test run.
During the experience, she realized that the self-driving car had it all under control. The ride was smooth.
“I couldn’t see them with my human eye, but the car could, so I knew that I could trust the car.”
NuTonomy — “I want to ride it now!”
According to the source, the driverless taxi company is starting small with six ready vehicles this week.
From nuTonomy’s projections, it plans to have a total of 12 self-driving taxis by the end of the year.
However, to make things interesting, the Singapore company says it will have an entire fleet of driverless cars on the road by 2018.
The source mentions that Singapore’s self-driving taxi service will help cut down the amount of traffic on the streets.
Right now, there are approximately 900,000 cars on Singapore’s roads. NuTonomy’s self-driving taxi service proposes to knock that number down to 300,000.
“You can create smaller roads, you can create much smaller car parks. I think it will change how people interact with the city going forward.”
Singapore’s Self-Driving Cars Aren’t Gas Guzzlers
With regard to the design of the self-driving taxi, Singapore’s nuTonomy chose two selections: a Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV, both as modified electrics.
According to the source, to further describe the self-driving taxi, Singapore’s new service mentions as follows.
“Each car is fitted with six sets of Lidar – a detection system that uses lasers to operate like radar – including one that constantly spins on the roof. There are also two cameras on the dashboard to scan for obstacles and detect changes in traffic lights.”
With great infrastructure, weather, and “drivers who tend to obey traffic rules,” its economic position sets it as a supportive place to foster autonomous vehicle research, Iagnemma suggests.
“Self Driving Taxi, when will you come to the U.S.?”
Unfortunately, Singapore’s company hasn’t given a timestamp for this venture. However, nuTonomy has mentioned working on similar driverless cars for the United States.
Actually, Financial Express mentions that there’s already a nuTonomy office in Massachusetts. So, things might be in the works sooner than publicly realized.
[Photo by Yong Teck Lim/AP Images]
