Baidu’s robotaxis are heading to the Alps. AmiGo, a venture between the Chinese giant’s Apollo Go robotaxi unit and Swiss Post’s PostBus, has won a special permit from Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office for Level 4 autonomous driving, Baidu said.
Level 4 means the vehicle drives itself within a defined area. Open-road trials began on 1 June across about 80 square kilometres of eastern Switzerland, in the cantons of St Gallen and the two Appenzells. For now, a safety operator still rides in each car.
What AmiGo is
AmiGo pairs Chinese self-driving technology with a Swiss public-transport operator. PostBus runs the country’s distinctive yellow postal buses; Apollo Go supplies the autonomous driving system. Riders book trips through the AmiGo app.
The cars are Apollo Go’s RT6: fully electric pods that carry up to three passengers and pack more than 30 sensors. The steering wheel is built to be removed once the service goes fully driverless. “With AmiGo, we are making automated mobility in public transport tangible,” said PostBus chief executive Stefan Regli.
