Science fiction becomes reality – Unmanned taxi vehicles to appear in small cities globally by 2020

Someone jaywalks in front of your car; other drivers make you feel unsafe; you can't find a parking spot; you can't drink because you have to drive – these problems might become a thing of the past in less than ten years, solved by autonomous driving.

The technology in question could potentially save thousands of lives a year, considerably reduce traffic jams and increase the mobility of those who have trouble with it. Autonomous cars use advanced computer systems, which react to the traffic and the pedestrians much quicker than a human brain is able to. If an obstacle, such as a child who has run out in the street, appears suddenly, the car sensors recognize the danger much quicker than a human eye and apply the brakes immediately.

Bosch plans to introduce new AI-run cars to the market in the next decade, and they are not alone in their endeavor. This April, they joined forces with the owner of Mercedes-Benz – Daimler in developing self-driving cars in order to make a “robot taxi”, which will be able to self-drive to the clients who order it by smartphone.

– The cars will be equipped with the kind of sensors that can be found in airplanes and submarines and, of course, with advanced GPS. They will feature a detailed overview of the surrounding area. The traditional arrangement of the driver's being behind the wheel and the control pedals is replaced with a control screen. Numerous sensors run the car automatically, whereas the driver and the passengers can monitor what's going on on the screen – Mathony Hans-Joerg, head of the Product Management Driver Assistance sector at the Bosch central, explains for eKapija.

Bosch has been developing the technology for a number of years, and some of the driving assistance options have already been implemented – adaptive tempomat (ACC), automatic braking and maintaining a safe distance.

Hans-Joerg says that they are currently working on a “taxi app” which will connect these cars. After the order has been placed, the autonomous taxi arrives at the address, and the client can then choose between automated driving or manual handling of the car. Once the ride is finished, the car self-drives to the next address.

– The first cars, which are partially automatized, are already on the way. The introduction of “robot taxis” is expected to take place in 2020 in small areas as a pilot project, and then in all larger cities by the end of 2025, I hope – Hans-Joerg says, without specifying in which states the autonomous vehicles are to appear first, as this is “still being negotiated”.

He emphasizes that this is an expensive endeavor, due to the investments in sensors and other equipment, but that it pays off in the long term. After these special taxi vehicles are introduced, he says, money will be saved due to a lack of need for drivers, the emission of harmful gases will be reduced, as will be the travel costs for all clients, whereas traffic safety and efficiency will increase.

It has been estimated that 260,000 accidents might be avoided annually in the US, China and Germany, whereas the emission of CO2 might be reduced by close to 400,000 tons, while also saving a great amount of time. Material expenses and damages might drop by EUR 4.3 billion and the number of injuries in traffic accidents is expected to go down by 350,000.

No law, no car

As the moment draws closer when the technology is made available to users, adequate regulations are being defined. Four American states, California, Nevada, Michigan and Florida, have adopted laws allowing the usage of unmanned cars.

Japan has similar regulations. Their law says that a driver can take over the control of the vehicle at any moment, which means that they don't have to have it at all times or to a full extent, Vladimir Momcilovic, a docent at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering, explains for eKapija.

– This is not the case in Europe, as there's still no legal basis for this nor for taking the control of the car away from the driver. According to the UNECE vehicle regulations, the driver must have control of the vehicle at all times, which practically makes it impossible for this not to be the case, that is, for giving the control over to somebody else, especially to a machine, that is, a computer – Momcilovic says for eKapija. He adds that there are several considerations making the implementation of the concept difficult.

Our interviewee explains that there are issues of defining responsibility in cases of traffic accidents – who is guilty if there's no driver? When it comes to damage, injury and casualties, is the producer of the vehicle or of the artificial intelligence responsible or is it someone else?

He notes that there's still no data necessary for training artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicles. According to him, this is a necessary and, without doubt, the only way for the system to be tested, improved and successfully implemented, i.e. the only way for it to be proven useful in practice. The question is whether autonomous vehicles will have information about the location of streets, traffic regulations, traffic signs etc.

He adds that there's also the question of personal data protection.

– There are countless issues here. Nearly all of them are of moral and social nature and appear impossible to solve at the moment – Momcilovic believes, taking into consideration the situation in Europe.

The problem with potential autonomous driving in Serbia is that the traffic signalization is in a bad state. Furthermore, the country lacks intelligent road structure, i.e. intelligent, changeable traffic signalization providing drivers with information. It must be kept in mind that such vehicles do not only communicate with other vehicles, but with the infrastructure as well.

People of Serbia ready for unmanned cars

Even with all those unresolved issues, people of Serbia are quite open to using unmanned cars, as shown by Goodyear's survey. According to the results of the survey, people of Serbia gave the biggest percentage of positive answers (28%) when asked whether they would feel comfortable using unmanned cars, thereby placing 1st on the list of 11 European countries, ahead of the Spanish and the Polish.

Serbia is also the first among the countries believing that unmanned driving would be easier than driving one's own vehicle, with 43% positive answers in the survey. When it comes to whether they would feel comfortable sharing the road with unmanned vehicles, the Serbs were a little more reserved, with 28% positive as opposed to 32% negative answers, which placed the country third, whereas Poland placed first, having given the biggest percentage of positive answers to the question.

Unmanned buses in Vienna

Slightly before unmanned cars, the capital of Austria will get unmanned buses. The Vienna Office in Belgrade announced several weeks ago that unmanned buses will appear in the city in 2019. The project will be financed by the Federal Ministry for Transport of Austria, and the aim is for the bus routes featuring unmanned buses to be operational under realistic conditions – with bus stops, timetables and real passengers. The plan is for the first such bus line to be implemented in the Aspern area in Vienna.

Sanja Sojic

Robert Bosch d.o.o. Beograd

Saobraćajni fakultet Beograd

Bosch

Mercedes Benz

Vladimir Momcilovic

Daimler

autonomous driving

unmanned cars

artificial intelligence

autonomous car

autonomous taxi

robot taxi

Mathony Hans Joerg

adaptive tempomat

ACC

automatic braking

California

Michigan

Nevada

Florida

UNECE regulations

Federal Ministry for Transport of Austria

smart cars

AI onboard computer

Bosch AI Center

Goodyear

production of tires

London School of Economics LSE

autonomous vehicle

GPS