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.For now, the taxis only run in a 2.The world’s first self-driving taxis began picking up passengers in Singapore starting Thursday.Select members of the public can hail a free ride through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup.Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s COO, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore’s roads from 900,000 to 300,000. 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.

The testing time-frame is open-ended, said nuTonomy CEO Karl Iagnemma. There are also https://www.tzcasters.com/ China Material Handling Equipment Parts wholesale two cameras on the dashboard to scan for obstacles and detect changes in traffic lights.

NuTonomy is starting small-six cars now, growing to a dozen by the end of the year. NuTonomy also is working on testing similar taxi services in other Asian cities, the US and Europe, but he wouldn’t say when. Eventually, the model could be adopted in cities around the world, nuTonomy hopes. "I don’t expect there to be a time where we say, ‘We’ve learned enough,’" Mr Iagnemma said.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 ultimate goal, company executives say, is to have a fully self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018, to help cut the number of cars on Singapore’s congested roads.Its launch in Singapore is beating ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks.The cars — modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electrics — have a driver in front who is prepared to take back the wheel and a researcher in back who watches the car’s computers.

"When you are able to take that many cars off the road, it creates a lot of possibilities. While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says is the first to offer rides to the public. Eventually, riders may start paying for the service, and more pick-up and drop-off points will be added. You can create smaller roads, you can create much smaller car parks," Mr Parker said.

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