Suzhou pilots unmanned services

A road for testing the intelligent network in Suzhou. [Photo/thepaper.cn]

Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province has been listed by the Ministry of Transportation to pilot the application of unmanned services from August 2022 to December 2023, local media outlets reported.

At the High-speed Railway New Town and Taihu Ecological Island 430 unmanned vehicles will run for at least 50,000 hours to provide at least 600,000 people with rides totaling 1.81 million kilometers.

A total of 25 unmanned cleaning vehicles will be used at the Jinji Lake Scenic Area and High-speed Railway New Town, automatically sweeping an area of at least 50 million sq m.

Unmanned retailing vehicles will also be put into operation at the scenic spots of Taihu Ecological Island and Jinji Lake to serve at least 70,000 tourists.

Suzhou's designation as a pilot city can be accounted for by its years of dedication to the cutting-edge technology.

In October 2020, China's first regularly operated driverless bus route empowered by the 5G network was launched at the High-speed Railway New Town, and a year later, the Taihu Ecological Island, China's first ecological demonstration island of automatic driving, opened the longest domestic intelligent connected road.

The fruits of the pilot projects will be showcased at the 29th ITS World Congress, which will be held in Suzhou next year to serve the transport needs of participants.

With over 30 industrial chains and more than 200 companies, Suzhou's intelligent network industry is gradually improving. Its automobile sector has gained investments totaling 200 million yuan ($28.36 million) and seen the level of its pilot projects lead throughout the country.