More roads to open for autonomous vehicle tests

SHANGHAI will open more roads for testing of autonomous vehicles and extend the length of roads for testing from 5.6 kilometers to 12 kilometers in coming months, the city’s government said.

Automakers will be able to test intelligent and connected vehicles on more roads in Anting Town in Jiading District. By the end of this year, they are set to test their vehicles on 47 kilometers of public roads in Shanghai.

The public roads set to open for testing of autonomous vehicles include Moyu Road S, Bei’ande Road, Boyuan Road, Anchi Road and Antuo Road in the district.

Since the Shanghai government issued the first batch of road test licenses to three automakers — SAIC Motor Co, BMW and NIO — from March 1, there has been no road accident. The three automakers have accumulated about 10,000 kilometers of road tests.

Through over two months of road tests, the automakers have enhanced their ability in machine learning and improved research and development of intelligent and connected vehicles. They have tested functions linked to identification and response to speed limit information, traffic light identification, identifying pedestrians and non-motor vehicles, lane keeping and other features.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization said the testing vehicles interacted with other vehicles, non-motor vehicles and pedestrians on public roads in the vicinity.

Shanghai is also developing China’s first new road sign system to interact with intelligent vehicles that will be piloted in the testing area.

By 2020, Shanghai hopes to become an innovation center for intelligent and connected vehicles. By 2025, it aims to become a world-leading city for intelligent and connected vehicle development.

“The automobile industry is an important part of the real economy and Shanghai’s economic development. In the next phase, Shanghai will accelerate the development of intelligent and connected vehicles for road testing,” said Huang Ou, vice chairman of the commission. “The city will accelerate the development of road infrastructure (for such vehicles) and improve capability in data acquisition, storage and transfer.”

The development of intelligent and connected vehicles “also helps Shanghai to build a global science and innovation center as well as promote Shanghai manufacturing,” Huang added.

The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission said the city is also going to open a public road for testing of autonomous vehicles in Lingang area in the Pudong New Area.