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Autonomous vehicles
Tech

WeRide robotaxis gain loyal passengers but fixed pick-up, drop-off spots irk some, survey shows

  • WeRide has completed a total of 147,128 robotaxi trips for more than 60,000 passengers in the past year, it says
  • Nearly 60 per cent of about 650 passengers surveyed say they use the robotaxi service for regular commutes

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A fleet of WeRide robotaxis in operation in Guangzhou. Photo: Handout
Che Panin Beijing
About a year since WeRide first launched its first autonomous taxi service in Guangzhou, the Chinese self-driving start-up said its robotaxis have won over a group of loyal customers, although passengers were lukewarm about its limited service range and the convenience of its fixed pick-up and drop-off points.

Since the service launched in the Guangdong capital on November 28 last year, WeRide has completed a total of 147,128 robotaxi trips for more than 60,000 passengers, it said in a press release. The service is currently free.

Nearly 60 per cent of passengers used the robotaxi service for regular commutes, with 28 per cent riding at least once a week, according to a survey of just over 650 WeRide passengers from October 30 to November 8, the company said. It added that 80 per cent of those surveyed said they would continue to use the service and recommend it to their friends and families.

However, 90 per cent of riders surveyed also said they hoped the service would be expanded to a larger area, while 70 per cent said they wished for more flexible pick-up and drop-off spots. Asked to rank various aspects of the riding experience on a five point scale, passengers gave overall positive scores, with the highest satisfaction with “in-vehicle cleanliness” (4.17), “courtesy to pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles” (4.13) and “safety driver performance” (4.08). The lowest average ratings were for “service range” (3.18), “waiting time” (3.24) and “pick-up and drop-off point convenience” (3.28).

When traditional taxis or ride-hailing cars and robotaxis were both available, only 9 per cent of WeRide’s robotaxi passengers surveyed indicated that they would choose the former option, whereas 28 per cent of the respondents said they would choose the robotaxi – a choice the company attributed to “the obvious advantages RoboTaxi has in terms of being a safe, fun and comfortable experience”.

“The passengers surveyed were less satisfied with ‘service reach’, ‘waiting time’ and ‘pick-up and drop-off spot convenience’, which is related to the constraints with RoboTaxi’s fixed pick-up and drop-off spots as well as the limited number of vehicles in service,” WeRide said in a report on the survey, which was conducted jointly with Tsinghua University’s Institute of Transportation Engineering. “These limitations, however, can be largely alleviated as WeRide expands its operation scale.”

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