This is how Shenzhen taxi drivers define the new law that gives the green light to more robotaxis in the city

In Shenzhen, China, self-driving taxis can already be seen driving on the streets (in fact, We recently rode one), but at the moment they are part of pilot programs and are a minority compared to the thousands of taxis driven by humans. That’s about to change.

what’s happening. Since July 1, the Chinese government has approved the deployment of robotaxis in the city of Shenzhen. As we said, there are currently pilot programs such as those of Pony.ai, the taxi we tested, and also of Baidu in specific areas of the city. With the new legislationthese commercial pilot projects can be expanded to the entire city.

Taxi drivers against. Logically, taxi drivers oppose this measure. In Financial Times collect the statements of several of these taxi drivers, who describe the measure as “incredibly cruel” and wonder “what will happen to the families who depend on the millions of taxi drivers in China.” Another of these taxi drivers affirms that “it is a capitalist operation, driven by personal profit, that seeks to monopolize the sector.”

A saturated market. Being a taxi driver in Shenzhen is not exactly a lucrative job. Around 400,000 drivers work in the city through different platforms such as Didi, the most popular of all. The problem is that there are too many taxi drivers for too few customers and the average is 13 trips a day. Speaking to the Financial Times, one of these taxi drivers claims to work 12 hours a day to earn a salary of 12,000 yuan, about 1,500 euros.

Human service vs machines. In an already stressed sector, many taxi drivers are worried that robotaxis will take away even more customers. On the other hand, others are calmer and believe that a robotaxi cannot match the service that a human driver can provide. Furthermore, there is another issue and that is that not all customers will feel comfortable riding in a driverless taxi. It is a very new technology that generates distrust in many people, but that is now. “in a few years, who knows?” says a driver.

Automation. It is one of China’s solutions to the unstoppable aging of its population. The UN projections They anticipate China’s population and workforce will decline dramatically between now and 2100, in some scenarios to less than half of their current levels. Given this situation, added to a improvement in working conditions of the workers, we are seeing how factories are filled with robots. The consequence is obvious: more unemployment and an entire generation of young people disconnected from the culture of effort that elevated the country to its status as the factory of the world. You can’t have everything.

Image | Amparo Babiloni, Xataka

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