nuTonomy Rolls Out World’s First Self-driving Taxis in Singapore

Singapore: nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software start-up on Thursday commenced the world’s first self-driving taxis services in Singapore. According to a report by AP, as part of the initial offer, self-driving taxi services were offered at free of cost to select passengers. NuTonomy has made it presence in the self-driving market space, while global major such as Google and Volvo have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for long. nuTonomy claimed that it’s the first to offer self-driving taxi services to the public.

Its launch in Singapore is beating ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh. NuTonomy has commenced self-driving taxi services with small six cars and will increase the number of cars to a dozen by 2016. The start-up company has set a target of achieving a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018. Self-driving taxis will help cut the number of cars on Singapore’s congested roads.

The self-driving cars are modified version of Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics. 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.

Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s chief operating officer, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore’s roads from 900,000 to 300,000. Later, this model will be expanded to other cities across the world.

For now, the taxis only run in a 2.5-square-mile (6.5 square kilometer) business and residential district called “one-north,” and pick-ups and drop-offs are limited to specified locations. Riders must have an invitation from nuTonomy to use the service. The company says dozens have signed up for the launch, and it plans to expand that list to thousands of people within a few months.

The self-driving cars are modified version of Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics. 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.