On December 26th, Guangzhou autonomous driving technology company Wenyuan Zhixing announced the launch of BRT Tianhe section autonomous driving minibus convenient route operation service in Guangzhou. Southern Metropolis Daily reporters learned that the line is an extension and supplementary line of the Huangpu section BRT test line, extending from BRT Xiayuan Station to BRT Wenyuan (Shuanggang Station of the subway) to BRT Xiayuan Station to BRT Tangxia Village Station, adding 12 stations from BRT Wuchong Station to BRT Tangxia Village Station. It is worth mentioning that this is the first autonomous minibus route in Guangzhou to enter the BRT system in the central urban area, and Tianhe District has also welcomed autonomous minibuses for the first time.
The autonomous minibus convenience route, jointly launched by Wenyuan Zhixing and Guangzhou Bus Group, is currently a test route and an informal operating fare line. The test time is from 19:30-22:00 from Monday to Friday, adopting a long short line alternating mode. The short line is BRT Wenyuan (Shuanggang Station) - BRT Xiayuan Station - BRT Wenyuan (Shuanggang Station), and the long line is BRT Wenyuan (Shuanggang Station) - BRT Xiayuan Station - BRT Tangxiacun Station - BRT Wenyuan Station.
It is reported that the autonomous driving route adopts an autonomous bus equipped with L4 level autonomous driving full stack software and hardware solutions, and the bus is equipped with a safety officer. The opening of the route has further expanded the application scenarios of Guangzhou's autonomous minibuses and enriched the transportation choices for citizens' nighttime travel.
The Guangzhou autonomous driving test roads are opened according to the principle of "easy first, difficult later, simple to complex". As of August this year, 933 test roads have been opened, with a one-way mileage of about 1980 kilometers. At the same time, Guangzhou is actively exploring cross regional connections and full area opening of autonomous driving test roads. After the opening test of the Tianhe section BRT line, the Guangzhou autonomous driving convenience line successfully connected Tianhe District and Huangpu District, achieving cross district operation. Citizens can take minibuses across the two major urban areas of Tianhe and Huangpu in Guangzhou.
Starting from the end of 2023, Wenyuan Zhixing and Guangzhou Bus Group will invest in 50 self driving minibuses in Guangzhou, and have successively launched 10 commercially operated self driving convenient bus routes, including Guangzhou Bio Island Line 1, Bio Island Line 2, Knowledge City Yongjing Bay Convenience Line, Guangzhou Tower Line, Pazhou Ring Line and other routes.