China's first demonstration operation project for self-driving buses that are manned and can collect fares was launched in Chongqing Municipality in the country's southwestern region on April 12.

Jointly developed by Baidu and King Long, three red Level 4 manned self-driving middle buses officially hit the road, taking the national lead in using self-driving buses on urban roads. With a total length of 8.8 kilometers, the operation route passes through Shennv Lake, Xinglong Lake, Guanyinshan Park, and other Yongchuan District stations.

Chongqing citizens can make an appointment through Apollo go, Baidu Maps, Yongchuan Service Commune, and other applications or swipe bus cards to take these self-driving buses, with a single trip costing two yuan (about 0.31 U.S. dollars).

According to the General Manager in charge of Baidu's intelligent transportation business in Chongqing, each self-driving bus is equipped with four lidars, two millimeter-wave radars, and seven monocular cameras to receive multiple technological perception data of both vehicles and pedestrians within a radius of 200-300 meters including blind areas that are invisible to the driver's perspective.

Besides, an edge calculation unit is installed at each intersection to calculate vehicles and pedestrians coming from each intersection direction and ensure integration with vehicle perception to realize vehicle-road coordination and prevent perception-related errors. Notably, there is a safety officer on each self-driving bus to ensure that manual driving can be an available alternative anytime.

"The launch of the project is of great significance to promote the development of both China's self-driving technology and industry," said the Vice President of Baidu Inc. and General Manager of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Business Group. He thinks it represents a milestone for China's commercialization of self-driving technology.

On the day, Yongchuan District also signed an agreement with Baidu Inc. to implement a smart transportation pilot project. Relying on the demonstration operation project for self-driving buses and the smart transportation pilot project, Yongchuan District aims to promote self-driving technology across the district and set a national example of a demonstration self-driving bus application.