Shenzhen bus operator joins Baidu, Google in autonomous driving race with public trial

China, the world’s biggest vehicle market, has targeted up to 20 per cent of its cars on the road to be highly autonomous by 2025, and for 10 per cent of cars to be fully self-driving by 2030

Li Taoin Shenzhen
Four self-driving buses began trial operation Saturday in Shenzhen, a city known for its high concentration of hi-tech companies. The smart buses, which are smaller than an ordinary bus, began running on a 1.2-kilometre route with three stops in the bonded zone of Futian. Photo: Xinhua

Shenzhen, the southern coastal Chinese city that is home to some of the world’s biggest technology companies, is heating up the global race for autonomous driving as the site for the country’s first trial of self-driving buses on public roads.

Public transit operator Shenzhen Bus Group has started testing four self-driving buses, equipped with software and sensors from Chinese firm Haylion Technologies, on a 1.2km loop in the city’s Futian district.

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