--- title: "China Flooded With Robotaxis Causing Traffic Jams" description: "As Bloomberg reports, a fleet of Baidu robotaxis is triggering traffic jams in the city of Wuhan, frustrating residents." date: "2024-08-01" modified: "2024-08-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-robotaxis-traffic-jams" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "china" - "driverless cars" - "robotaxis" - "tesla" - "the digest" - "wuhan" --- # China Flooded With Robotaxis Causing Traffic Jams ![As Bloomberg reports, a fleet of Baidu robotaxis is triggering traffic jams in the city of Wuhan, frustrating residents.]() *\Image: VCG/VCG via Getty Images\* ## Enter the Wuhan Hundreds of driverless robotaxis are causing mayhem in the Chinese city of Wuhan. As [*Bloomberg* reports](), the fleet of vehicles deployed by Chinese tech giant Baidu is triggering traffic jams by driving too cautiously, frustrating the city's residents. And if that sounds familiar, you aren't alone. Similar driverless robotaxi services in the US have also wreaked havoc, with vehicles [struggling to follow the rules of the road](), [getting involved in crashes](), and even getting [pulled over by baffled human police officers](), highlighting the tech's ongoing technical problems on real-world streets. ## Driverless Jam As of right now, Baidu's services aren't available across the entire city. But even in this limited trial, its vehicles are having trouble adapting to a driving culture that often flouts the rules of the road. Baidu has deployed more than 500 electric robotaxis in Wuhan, roughly half of what the company is planning to deploy by the end of the year under its Apollo Go brand. While the fleet only makes up a tiny fraction of the total number of cabs in the city, gig workers are worried they could lose their jobs as the tech sector continues to push for autonomous vehicles. "It is exciting to witness robotaxis become reality, yet it’s not clear how taxi drivers will face the challenge, and how the government will strike a balance between technological breakthroughs and weak labor market conditions," Pinpoint Asset Management chief economist Zhiwei Zhang wrote in a note, as quoted by *Bloomberg*. Baidu has been aggressive in the rollout of its robotaxi service, heavily undercutting its human competition by discounting rides considerably β€” a strategy that experts have fretted could make such services commercially unviable. In short, whether the approach will pay off remains to be seen. It's not just Baidu struggling with integrating its driverless taxis in a busy urban environment β€” American companies including Alphabet's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise are in a similar boat, indicating these growing pains are a global problem. Whether Elon Musk's Tesla can swoop in and change the picture remains to be seen. The mercurial CEO [recently announced]() that the EV maker would be unveiling a robotaxi later this year β€” but whether it stands a chance of catching up with the competition remains [anything but certain](). **More on robotaxis:** *[Tesla Analyst Tries Full Self-Driving, Has to Stop It From Crashing]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()