Baidu's Self-Driving Buses to Ply Through Chinese and Japanese Roads Soon

China has them; Japan will have them, too. The question is, will the Philippines warm up to them as well?

We're talking about self-driving buses, here. It's a debatable subject for Filipinos, but for the land of the Rising Sun and the land with the biggest population on earth, autonomous buses are definitely IN.

In fact, tech giant Baidu has already begun mass-manufacturing its Apolong self-driving bus for Wuhan, Shenzhen, Pingtan, and Beijing. What's more, they have also partnered with King Long and SB Drive, Japan SoftBank Group's autonomous driving subsidiary that will bring Apolong to Tokyo in 2019.

Apolong Self-Driving Bus

The 14-seater autonomous mini-bus is categorized as Level 4 autonomy, which means it doesn't require a driver behind the wheel to be operated. It can perform 'mind off' tasks, such as changing lanes, steering, braking, and using signals without the help of humans.

It will be equipped with the Apollo 3, Baidu's latest version of open autonomous driving platform. Other car manufacturers, like Ford, Honda, Hyundai, and Jaguar Land Rover have also signed up to use Apollo. Apollo's newest version includes new solutions that support valet parking, autonomous mini buses and autonomous microcars.

Its one limitation, however, is merging onto highways. This shouldn't be a problem for commuters, because Apolong will only be used for short trips.

Baidu Inc.

Apolong's production volume has already reached 100 units, and was recently celebrated by the company. Baidu's Chairman and CEO Robin Li pointed out this milestone to its attendees at Baidu Create 2018.

Baidu, Inc., which is Google's counterpart in China, is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. Baidu aims to make a complex world simpler through technology. Baidu's ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU". Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.