Read a summary of this article on FAST.
FAST
GUANGZHOU/SHENZHEN/SINGAPORE: Imagine a driver who never tires — not even after 18 hours of driving — never gives in to road rage, sees the road through 360 degrees, reacts in milliseconds and, on some rides, may even offer a back massage.
Well, such a driver does not exist, not in human form at least.
In parts of China, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are already ferrying passengers across city districts, gliding through busy junctions without anyone behind the wheel, and delivering parcels late into the night without drivers clocking in overtime.
“When people in China buy electric vehicles, the autonomous driving features are … almost like a basic, standard feature,” said Xiao Jinyang, whose Xpeng car can change lanes, brake and park itself, though a human must remain ready to take over.
Xiao Jinyang relaxing his hands in his self-driving Xpeng car.
In Guangzhou, home to more than 500 fully self-driving vehicles as of mid-2025, there are robotaxis operating 24/7 within approved zones without a safety driver on board.
There are also robobuses, including fully driverless services on Guangzhou’s International Biotech Island, carrying up to 10 passengers in smaller models and 27 passengers in larger buses being tested.
Driverless delivery vans are on the clock for at least 18 hours a day, shuttling parcels from warehouses to neighbourhood pick-up points. Even pilotless air taxis, capable of flying for 25 minutes and covering 30km, have begun invitation-only trial flights.
Singapore, meanwhile, has about 30 active AVs on the road, with plans to increase that number this year. In Punggol, autonomous shuttles have hit the road and will be opened to the public in the coming months.
Safety operators will remain on board, however, because the technology is not always infallible.
Last month, an AV in Punggol swerved after its sensors detected an object that was not there. Then an intervention by the safety officer caused it to collide with a road divider while in manual mode. The vehicle will have to clock more kilometres before passengers are allowed in.
Are these AVs safer than the drivers they are designed to replace? How ready are humans to trust a vehicle with no one behind the wheel?
To test how efficient and safe this driverless future could be, CNA sent Class 95 deejays Justin Ang and Vernon Anthonisz, along with three other Singaporeans, to Guangzhou and Shenzhen — two of China’s AV hubs — in the series Who’s Driving Now?
WATCH PART 1: Muttons try driverless cars — What’s life like with no one behind the wheel? (46:41)
The general consensus among experts is that AVs have the potential to be safer than human drivers. “Predictability is the key,” said Niels de Boer, chief operating officer of Nanyang Technological University’s Energy Research Institute.
On the streets of Guangzhou, robotaxis demonstrated that discipline. They maintained a steady distance from the vehicle ahead, adhered to speed limits and signalled before changing lanes.
At one point, to Ang and Anthonisz’s surprise, their robotaxi honked at a car attempting to cut in.
“If I close my eyes, maybe I wouldn’t know that it’s a driverless car,” said Singaporean taxi driver Eddie Jui, 48, also known as LazyCabbie on YouTube, as he rode in one.
Eddie Jui said the robotaxi braked gently, like a human driver.
Even a disciplined machine, however, cannot eliminate uncertainty. Regular robotaxi commuter Ding Deliang recalled an occasion when he was “in a rush” to get to work and it was raining.
“There was flooding en route, or maybe the tyre was punctured by a nail on the road,” he said. “The car stopped, and I waited a good half hour in the car.”
At robotaxi firm Pony AI’s headquarters, vice president Mo Luyi explained how incidents such as a downpour become training material: Footage of complex scenarios captured by its vehicles on public roads are reconstructed in offline simulation systems.
The data collected is used to build a greater understanding of driving environments — a large-scale “role model”, she called it — and train the entire fleet. To date, Pony AI has accumulated more than 60 million kilometres of driving data.
Beyond this, its robotaxis are equipped with multiple technologies and safeguards.
They are fitted with 11 cameras, four roof-mounted lidar sensors — detecting objects with precision — and a millimetre-wave radar measuring speed. This system enables the vehicles to see up to 300 metres away from all angles, at all times.
Cameras mounted on top of one of Pony AI’s robotaxis.
“I also feel that the robotaxi is generally safer at night because it uses high-precision sensors, which allows it to see more and further than humans,” said Lee Shunjian, another frequent user of these ride-hailing services.
Operations are manned remotely, at a control centre, and robotaxis will not move off until all passengers buckle up.
In an emergency, passengers can end the trip via the app or in-car screen. The vehicle will then pull over to the nearest safe location.
Safety protocols extend to robobuses as well. There is an audible warning, for example, when a passenger undoes his or her seat belt during a ride.
“Also, no standing will be allowed because there’s no driver here to give the warning to every passenger,” said Maeve Zhang, head of global marketing and public relations at autonomous driving company WeRide.
Maeve Zhang aboard one of WeRide’s autonomous robobuses.
Children under 1.3m are discouraged from boarding its seated-only robobuses, as the seat belts are designed for taller passengers. On new or complex routes, a safety driver remains on board until sufficient safe operating hours are accumulated.
In the case of autonomous technology in the skies, such as EHang’s pilotless air taxi — used mainly for sightseeing flights for now — weight limits are strictly enforced as per the aerial vehicle model.
A weight limit of 87kg meant Ang had to sit out his flight. But not Anthonisz, whose ride was “so smooth”.
“You don’t feel any turbulence, you don’t feel any sudden, jerky movements,” he described. “You wouldn’t even know you were flying unless you looked out of the window.”
EHang has said its air taxi services, when they are launched in future, are expected to cost 200 to 300 yuan (US$29 to US$44).
A 10km robotaxi ride in Guangzhou, meanwhile, can cost about 20 yuan — with discounts — compared with 40 to 50 yuan for a regular taxi.
Singaporean Formula 4 racer Kareen Kaur, 15, who checked out Shenzhen’s robotaxis, found them “efficient”. “When you book (one), it comes within five minutes,” she said. “I think if people … are in a rush, they can take it.”
Her father and travel buddy, Kuldeep Singh, 46, was struck by the consistency of the driving. “As humans, right, we’ll just go (up) to 76, 78, 79kmh. You’re worried (about receiving a) summons,” he quipped.
The experience can even feel futuristic. In Shenzhen, robobuses double as sightseeing vehicles with built-in commentary. Some robotaxis come with voice-controlled reclining seats and a massage function.
For all the novelty, Jui still thought something was missing. “I’m going to give (the robotaxi) a rating of 3.5 out of 5. … There’s no human connection,” he said.
“The thing about cars with drivers (is) you can talk to the driver. … I love to talk. Sometimes passengers love to talk. Then in this kind of vehicle, who are you going to talk to?”
WATCH PART 2: Driverless everything — Flying air taxis, robobuses and delivery vans in China (46:10)
In China, the expansion of AVs has been fuelled by strong government backing. Singapore’s approach has been more cautious, but it is moving.
In Punggol, three AV routes have been identified to connect residents from farther-flung neighbourhoods to key amenities such as the polyclinic in Oasis Terraces as well as the nearby supermarket and food court.
With vehicles imported from China, however, these are left-hand drive AVs — as with most AVs globally at present, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling.
“We hope eventually to scale up our deployment and, when that’s the case, … for (manufacturers) to design and manufacture right-hand drive models,” she shared.
Tech company Grab is one of two local operators working with partners to retrain and adapt the vehicles for Singapore’s road conditions, from traffic light configurations to local driving rules.
“Perhaps after a certain number of rides … (and a) clear, clean safety record, then we’ll move to not having a safety officer on board,” Sun said. “(We’ll have) remote monitoring from a control station.”
With public transport already being subsidised, and “quite a fair bit of the operating cost” going towards manpower, the cost of providing such shuttle services could be lower with no one in the driver’s seat.
“We hope, (in) about two months’ time, we’ll be able to progress to the ‘open-to-the-public’ ride stage,” she added.
Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the series, Who's Driving Now?
Source: CNA/fl(dp)
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FAST
GUANGZHOU/SHENZHEN/SINGAPORE: Imagine a driver who never tires — not even after 18 hours of driving — never gives in to road rage, sees the road through 360 degrees, reacts in milliseconds and, on some rides, may even offer a back massage.
Well, such a driver does not exist, not in human form at least.
In parts of China, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are already ferrying passengers across city districts, gliding through busy junctions without anyone behind the wheel, and delivering parcels late into the night without drivers clocking in overtime.
“When people in China buy electric vehicles, the autonomous driving features are … almost like a basic, standard feature,” said Xiao Jinyang, whose Xpeng car can change lanes, brake and park itself, though a human must remain ready to take over.
Xiao Jinyang relaxing his hands in his self-driving Xpeng car.
In Guangzhou, home to more than 500 fully self-driving vehicles as of mid-2025, there are robotaxis operating 24/7 within approved zones without a safety driver on board.
There are also robobuses, including fully driverless services on Guangzhou’s International Biotech Island, carrying up to 10 passengers in smaller models and 27 passengers in larger buses being tested.
Driverless delivery vans are on the clock for at least 18 hours a day, shuttling parcels from warehouses to neighbourhood pick-up points. Even pilotless air taxis, capable of flying for 25 minutes and covering 30km, have begun invitation-only trial flights.
Singapore, meanwhile, has about 30 active AVs on the road, with plans to increase that number this year. In Punggol, autonomous shuttles have hit the road and will be opened to the public in the coming months.
Related stories:
Safety operators will remain on board, however, because the technology is not always infallible.
Last month, an AV in Punggol swerved after its sensors detected an object that was not there. Then an intervention by the safety officer caused it to collide with a road divider while in manual mode. The vehicle will have to clock more kilometres before passengers are allowed in.
Are these AVs safer than the drivers they are designed to replace? How ready are humans to trust a vehicle with no one behind the wheel?
To test how efficient and safe this driverless future could be, CNA sent Class 95 deejays Justin Ang and Vernon Anthonisz, along with three other Singaporeans, to Guangzhou and Shenzhen — two of China’s AV hubs — in the series Who’s Driving Now?
WATCH PART 1: Muttons try driverless cars — What’s life like with no one behind the wheel? (46:41)
THE TECH, AND RISK CONTROL, BEHIND THE WHEEL
The general consensus among experts is that AVs have the potential to be safer than human drivers. “Predictability is the key,” said Niels de Boer, chief operating officer of Nanyang Technological University’s Energy Research Institute.
On the streets of Guangzhou, robotaxis demonstrated that discipline. They maintained a steady distance from the vehicle ahead, adhered to speed limits and signalled before changing lanes.
At one point, to Ang and Anthonisz’s surprise, their robotaxi honked at a car attempting to cut in.
“If I close my eyes, maybe I wouldn’t know that it’s a driverless car,” said Singaporean taxi driver Eddie Jui, 48, also known as LazyCabbie on YouTube, as he rode in one.
Eddie Jui said the robotaxi braked gently, like a human driver.
Even a disciplined machine, however, cannot eliminate uncertainty. Regular robotaxi commuter Ding Deliang recalled an occasion when he was “in a rush” to get to work and it was raining.
“There was flooding en route, or maybe the tyre was punctured by a nail on the road,” he said. “The car stopped, and I waited a good half hour in the car.”
At robotaxi firm Pony AI’s headquarters, vice president Mo Luyi explained how incidents such as a downpour become training material: Footage of complex scenarios captured by its vehicles on public roads are reconstructed in offline simulation systems.
The data collected is used to build a greater understanding of driving environments — a large-scale “role model”, she called it — and train the entire fleet. To date, Pony AI has accumulated more than 60 million kilometres of driving data.
Beyond this, its robotaxis are equipped with multiple technologies and safeguards.
They are fitted with 11 cameras, four roof-mounted lidar sensors — detecting objects with precision — and a millimetre-wave radar measuring speed. This system enables the vehicles to see up to 300 metres away from all angles, at all times.
Cameras mounted on top of one of Pony AI’s robotaxis.
“I also feel that the robotaxi is generally safer at night because it uses high-precision sensors, which allows it to see more and further than humans,” said Lee Shunjian, another frequent user of these ride-hailing services.
Operations are manned remotely, at a control centre, and robotaxis will not move off until all passengers buckle up.
In an emergency, passengers can end the trip via the app or in-car screen. The vehicle will then pull over to the nearest safe location.
Safety protocols extend to robobuses as well. There is an audible warning, for example, when a passenger undoes his or her seat belt during a ride.
“Also, no standing will be allowed because there’s no driver here to give the warning to every passenger,” said Maeve Zhang, head of global marketing and public relations at autonomous driving company WeRide.
Maeve Zhang aboard one of WeRide’s autonomous robobuses.
Children under 1.3m are discouraged from boarding its seated-only robobuses, as the seat belts are designed for taller passengers. On new or complex routes, a safety driver remains on board until sufficient safe operating hours are accumulated.
In the case of autonomous technology in the skies, such as EHang’s pilotless air taxi — used mainly for sightseeing flights for now — weight limits are strictly enforced as per the aerial vehicle model.
A weight limit of 87kg meant Ang had to sit out his flight. But not Anthonisz, whose ride was “so smooth”.
“You don’t feel any turbulence, you don’t feel any sudden, jerky movements,” he described. “You wouldn’t even know you were flying unless you looked out of the window.”
FROM NOVELTY TO COMING REALITY
EHang has said its air taxi services, when they are launched in future, are expected to cost 200 to 300 yuan (US$29 to US$44).
A 10km robotaxi ride in Guangzhou, meanwhile, can cost about 20 yuan — with discounts — compared with 40 to 50 yuan for a regular taxi.
Singaporean Formula 4 racer Kareen Kaur, 15, who checked out Shenzhen’s robotaxis, found them “efficient”. “When you book (one), it comes within five minutes,” she said. “I think if people … are in a rush, they can take it.”
Her father and travel buddy, Kuldeep Singh, 46, was struck by the consistency of the driving. “As humans, right, we’ll just go (up) to 76, 78, 79kmh. You’re worried (about receiving a) summons,” he quipped.
The experience can even feel futuristic. In Shenzhen, robobuses double as sightseeing vehicles with built-in commentary. Some robotaxis come with voice-controlled reclining seats and a massage function.
For all the novelty, Jui still thought something was missing. “I’m going to give (the robotaxi) a rating of 3.5 out of 5. … There’s no human connection,” he said.
“The thing about cars with drivers (is) you can talk to the driver. … I love to talk. Sometimes passengers love to talk. Then in this kind of vehicle, who are you going to talk to?”
WATCH PART 2: Driverless everything — Flying air taxis, robobuses and delivery vans in China (46:10)
In China, the expansion of AVs has been fuelled by strong government backing. Singapore’s approach has been more cautious, but it is moving.
In Punggol, three AV routes have been identified to connect residents from farther-flung neighbourhoods to key amenities such as the polyclinic in Oasis Terraces as well as the nearby supermarket and food court.
With vehicles imported from China, however, these are left-hand drive AVs — as with most AVs globally at present, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling.
“We hope eventually to scale up our deployment and, when that’s the case, … for (manufacturers) to design and manufacture right-hand drive models,” she shared.
Tech company Grab is one of two local operators working with partners to retrain and adapt the vehicles for Singapore’s road conditions, from traffic light configurations to local driving rules.
“Perhaps after a certain number of rides … (and a) clear, clean safety record, then we’ll move to not having a safety officer on board,” Sun said. “(We’ll have) remote monitoring from a control station.”
With public transport already being subsidised, and “quite a fair bit of the operating cost” going towards manpower, the cost of providing such shuttle services could be lower with no one in the driver’s seat.
“We hope, (in) about two months’ time, we’ll be able to progress to the ‘open-to-the-public’ ride stage,” she added.
Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the series, Who's Driving Now?
You may wish to also read:
Source: CNA/fl(dp)
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