DRIVE A2B June 2018

ENGLAND
CHINA - Beijing
by Shunsuke Tabeta
China envisions self-driving
technology for all private cars in
a cutting-edge metropolis to be
completed near Beijing by 2035,
taking aim at U.S. supremacy in
autonomous vehicles and pitting
authority-driven progress against
free market innovation.
The Xiongan New Area project
represents an attempt by the
ruling Communist Party to use
developmental dictatorship -- the
pursuit of economic growth at the
expense of public participation in
politics -- to build infrastructure
and legal systems at a pace other
countries cannot match.
President Xi Jinping unveiled the
ambitious Xiongan project last year
as part of a “millennial strategy.”
The high-tech “smart” city will be
built about 100km southwest of
the Chinese capital in a rural zone
of Hebei Province.
The population is projected to
surpass 2 million by 2022, with the
megacity eventually rivaling Tokyo
by expanding to an area of about
2,000 sq. km. Total investment
looks to reach 2 trillion yuan ($313
billion).
A model area within the zone
will be designated for developing
autonomous-driving technology
based on artificial intelligence
as well as providing support for
related industries, according to
a government outline released in
April.
Much of the city’s transportation
infrastructure, including roads and
railways, will be built underground,
said former Shanghai Mayor Xu
Kuangdi, who helped draft the
plans.
Designing the new megacity
around self-driving automobiles
eliminates problems associated
with adapting existing
infrastructure to cope with a mix
of regular and automated vehicles
-- as well as pedestrians. China
hopes to use Xiongan as a model
for future cities worldwide.
The international Geneva and
Vienna conventions on road traffic
assume alert and observant
human drivers, which creates
difficulties for many countries
in building legal systems to
accommodate highly autonomous
vehicles. But China has ratified
neither, and the Communist Party
can use its unchecked authority to
shape laws and otherwise prepare
an environment for automated
driving.
China’s Changan Automobile
launched “level 2” self-driving
technology for the consumer
market in March, an international
standard in which cars can assist
in functions such as accelerating
and braking. Level 5 represents full
automation.
Thousands of Brits are
at risk from cabbies who
dodge tough council licence
tests by using cheap “soft
touch” issuers further afield.
Some local authorities make
hundreds of thousands in
fees from drivers who have
no intention of working in
their areas.
And town hall leaders say
in some cases criminal
records are not being
checked.
Sales of licences in
Wolverhampton rose from
852 in 2015 to more than
9,000 this year.
Rossendale, Lancs, licensed
3,756 taxi drivers last year,
one for every 19 residents.
But the town has just 75 taxi
rank places.
Drivers with Rossendale
licences have been
convicted of offences in
York, Milton Keynes and
Manchester, according to an
investigation by “The Times”.
More than 330 cab driver
sex assaults were reported
last year. Since 2007, 131
have been convicted, 40 for
rape.
Rossendale council said it
had “significantly improved”
systems.
Wolverhampton council
said it applied “stringent
standards”.
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