Robot taxis and buses are being tested in 19 Chinese cities, leaving drivers feeling the pinch

Driverless robot taxis and buses are being tested in at least 19 Chinese cities as companies expand their fleets, raising concerns among taxi and ride-sharing drivers.

Robotaxis are worrying China's ride-hailing drivers as permits pick up the pace - Fast Company

Publicly available information indicates that at least 19 cities are testing robot taxis and robobuses, with seven of those allowing companies to test without human driver supervision, including five industry leaders Apollo Go, Pony.ai, WeRide, AutoX, and SAIC Motor.

Apollo Go is a subsidiary of IT giant Baidu, and in May 2024 it announced plans to deploy 1,000 robot taxis in Wuhan, Hubei Province by the end of the year.

Pony.ai is backed by Toyota and operates a fleet of 300 robotaxis, with plans to add another 1,000 by 2026. A Pony.ai vice president said it could take five years for robotaxis to become sustainably profitable, but once they are, the fleet size will grow exponentially.

Self-driving technology still has some immature aspects, and there are concerns in China about safety, but state-run media has ignored them and the government seems to be actively approving the tests in order to achieve economic goals.

The situation has human drivers worried: Data shows there are 7 million registered drivers working for ride-hailing services in China, a vital source of employment amid an economic slowdown, but economists say robotaxis could have an impact.

At the same time, some economists say that given the country's shrinking population, automating jobs could be beneficial in the long term. 'In the short term, we need to find a balance between the speed of creating new jobs and destroying old ones,' said Tang Yao, an associate professor of economics at Peking University. 'We're already at the forefront, so we don't necessarily need to be the fastest to move forward.'