Shanghai is accelerating its journey towards autonomous driving leadership by expanding its public road tests and adopting advanced 5G-A technologies. The city recently opened an additional 205 kilometers of roads, including expressways, dedicated to autonomous driving tests. This expansion brings Shanghai’s total test road length to over 2,000 kilometers, solidifying its position as a pioneer in China’s autonomous driving landscape.
Currently, 32 licensed companies and 794 vehicles are participating in tests across 1,003 city roads, according to local authorities. The inclusion of expressways among the new test roads diversifies the driving scenarios, allowing for more comprehensive simulations and data collection.
Lin Yu, general manager of Shanghai Jinqiao Intelligent Connected Vehicles Development Co., Ltd., told China Media Group (CMG), “The new test roads allow us to collect data from a wider range of scenarios and upload the data to our platform for further research and development. The test roads are gradually expanding from simple to more complex conditions. This is the first open test road in the city center that is completely in a real urban environment. The further and broader the car travels, the more cases it encounters, and we use them to debug our algorithms.”
In 2022, Shanghai enacted a special law for the Pudong New Area to facilitate the development of the autonomous driving industry. The legislation requires testing vehicles to upload real-time information—including speed, location, and driving status—to the city’s monitoring center. This data serves as a basis for licensing vehicles for subsequent stages of testing and operation.
“There are many L4-level (high-level driving automation) test vehicles in Jinqiao, as Pudong New Area has special legislation for autonomous driving,” Lin added. “This allows vehicles that have reached the L4 level to be tested, applied, and operated in the future.”
The integration of 5G-A technologies enhances data transmission speeds and connectivity, crucial for the real-time communication required in autonomous driving. Shanghai’s advancements not only represent a significant leap in smart transportation but also set a precedent for other regions aiming to develop autonomous vehicle industries.
Reference(s):
China's 5G-A techs upgrade smart autonomous driving test in Shanghai
cgtn.com
