World's first public autonomous taxi trial begins in Singapore

Select members of the public can now hail free rides through their smartphones in autonomous taxis operated by nuTonomy

The world's first self-driving taxis are picking up passengers in Singapore.

The service, which is a limited public trial, allows select members of the public to hail a free ride through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup.

The trial, which will continue on an on-going basis, is being held within Singapore’s one-north business district.

The cars — modified Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric cars — have a driver in front who is prepared to take back the wheel and a researcher in back who watches the car's computers. 

The company will collect and evaluate valuable data related to software system performance, vehicle routing efficiency, the vehicle booking process, and the overall passenger experience. This data will enable nuTonomy to refine its software in preparation for the launch of a widely-available commercial robo-taxi service in Singapore in 2018.

Doug Parker, nuTonomy's chief operating officer, said autonomous taxis could ultimately reduce the number of cars on Singapore's roads from 900,000 to 300,000.

"When you are able to take that many cars off the road, it creates a lot of possibilities. You can create smaller roads, you can create much smaller car parks. I think it will change how people interact with the city going forward," he said.