Baidu Apollo Go gets license to test robotaxis in HK

Baidu's robotaxi service Apollo Go has been granted permission to test in Hong Kong, expanding its operations outside the Chinese mainland.

The Hong Kong Transport Department announced yesterday that the first pilot license for autonomous vehicle has been issued, which allows the applicant to conduct a trial of 10 robotaxis on North Lantau.

The statement did not mention the name of the applicant, though according to another document, it is Baidu Apollo International Ltd, the operator of the Apollo Go service platform.

The license is valid from Dec 9, 2024, to Dec 8, 2029, and in the first phase, only one autonomous private car can be operated at a time on designated roads.

During the trial period, a backup operator stationed on the vehicle will take over control of the vehicle as and when required.

The Hong Kong government has been promoting autonomous vehicles since 2017, but it wasn't until the introduction of new regulatory legislation in Mar this year that wider trials of such vehicles on public roads were allowed.

Hong Kong's new autonomous vehicles legislation and regulatory regime comes into effect on Mar 1, 2024, providing a flexible regulatory framework for robotaxi, according to a statement yesterday.

The Hong Kong government launched the USD1 billion Smart Traffic Fund in 2021 to provide funding support to local organizations or enterprises for conducting research and application on vehicle-related innovation and technology. So far, 12 approved projects have been related to autonomous vehicles.

This is the first pilot license issued by the Hong Kong government since the implementation of the new regulatory regime, and the first time Baidu has been granted autonomous vehicle test permit outside the Chinese mainland.

Baidu, which ventured into self-driving technology in 2013, was one of the first Chinese companies to enter the field.

As of now, Apollo Go is available in more than 10 cities in the Chinese mainland.

These vehicles would join the robotaxi fleet on Apollo Go, which by the end of 2024 plans to deploy 1,000 sixth-generation robotaxis in Wuhan, Hubei province, Baidu said in May.