英語閱讀提升：國內首批！百度無人駕駛計程車上路運營

本導讀

Baidu gets permits for first fully driverless taxi service in China

百度獲得中國首個全自動無人駕駛計程車服務許可證

Tech giant Baidu announced Monday that it has obtained permits to operate fully autonomous taxis without any human assistants on board in two of China's megacities, marking a first for the country.

科技巨頭百度周一宣布，它已獲得在中國兩個特大城市運營全自動無人駕駛計程車服務的許可證，這在中國尚屬首例。

Baidu, which operates China's largest search engine, said it received the regulatory approvals for its autonomous ride-hailing service Apollo Go to operate on open roads during the daytime in Chongqing and Wuhan. The cities have populations of some 30 million and 11 million people, respectively.

運營中國最大搜索引擎的百度表示，其自動叫車服務平台蘿蔔快跑（Apollo Go）獲得了監管部門的批准，可以白天在重慶和武漢兩座城市的開放道路上進行運營。這兩座城市的人口數量分別約為3000萬和1100萬。

The move represents a notable step forward for Baidu and a potential shift in China's comfort with the new technology. In other cities where the company's robotaxis operate, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Baidu is required to have a human safety operator present in the vehicle.

此舉標誌著百度向前邁出了顯著的一步，也預示著中國對這項新技術的態度可能會發生轉變。在其他允許該公司自動駕駛計程車運營的城市，包括北京、上海和深圳，百度被要求在車上配備一名人類安全操作員。

重點辭彙

1. permit: an official document that allows you to do something or go somewhere 許可證，特許證

• She has managed to obtain a temporary residence permit.

2. megacity: a very large city, especially one with more than 10 million people living in it 巨型城市

• The landscape will just become one undifferentiated sprawling megacity.

3. ride-hailing: used for or involved in the activity of asking for a car and driver to come immediately and take you somewhere 約車，叫車

• Do you use a ride-hailingapp?

4. notable: important and deserving attention, because of being very good or interesting 顯要的；顯著的

• Getting both sides to agree was a notable achievement.

5. robotaxi: a self-driving car that operates as a taxi in an e-hailing service; also known as robo-raxi, self-driving taxi or driverless taxi, is an autonomous car operated for a ridesharing company 自動駕駛計程車

• Several companies are testing robotaxi services, especially in the United States and in China.
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延伸閱讀

The permits will allow Baidu to provide fully driverless robotaxi services in designated areas in Wuhan from 9 am to 5 pm and in Chongqing from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm local time. Service will be limited at first, however, with just five robotaxis operating in each city.

百度被許可在武漢當地時間上午9點至下午5點和重慶當地時間上午9點30分至下午4點30分，在指定區域內提供全自動無人駕駛計程車服務。然而，該服務一開始將會受到限制，每座城市只允許有5輛自動駕駛計程車進行運營。

In the United States, robotaxi offerings remain extremely sparse and ridehailing giants like Uber and Lyft have abandoned in-house self-driving taxi efforts.

在美國，自動駕駛計程車服務仍然極其稀少，優步（Uber）和來福車（Lyft）等網約車巨頭已經放棄了公司內的自動駕駛計程車。

In June, General Motors-backed Cruise gained permits in California to charge a fare for driverless rides in San Francisco. In July, however, Reuters reported that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into a crash of a Cruise self-driving vehicle that resulted in minor injuries.

今年6月，通用汽車旗下的Cruise在加州獲得了許可證，可以在舊金山對無人駕駛計程車收費。然而，今年7月，路透社報道稱，美國國家公路交通安全管理局對一起由Cruise自動駕駛汽車造成的撞車事故展開了調查，該事故造成輕傷。