Coronavirus news from the Bay Area: Dec. 10-16
Chronicle Staff
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The Chronicle began covering the coronavirus crisis before the first cases were reported in the Bay Area and a pandemic was declared in 2020. We reorganized the newsroom to dedicate nearly every resource to stories focusing on the health and economic disasters. Every day we have published live updates to reflect the most critical local, national and global updates on COVID-19, and this news is free of charge in an effort to keep our community safe and informed.
Read the previous updates from Dec. 4-9
Read the next updates from Dec. 17-23
Amazon-Backed Company Unveils Next-Gen Driverless Taxi
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Self-driving service helps forge City of Intelligent Driving
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A white car parked on a wide street in Changsha, capital of central China s Hunan Province, awaits passengers. However, there s something unusual about this usual-looking taxi it has no driver.
Changsha became the first in the country to roll out the self-driving taxi service for the public in April.
Though the service is currently limited to a selected region in the city, covering residential communities, commercial areas and industrial parks, Changsha has been dubbed as City of Intelligent Driving for unveiling the cutting-edge tech for public use.
The driverless cars, named Robotaxis, have been co-produced by Chinese search provider and artificial intelligence (AI) heavyweight Baidu and Chinese carmaker FAW Hongqi, and operated by Hunan Apollo Intelligent Transportation (Hunan Apollo) based in the city s Xiangjiang New Area. Users can hail the taxis using Baidu Map, a mobile navigation app.
Zoox shows off next-generation self-driving taxis
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Zoox, which is owned by Amazon, has developed a robot car designed to transport up to four passengers. The vehicles, which are manufactured in Fremont, have no manual controls.ZooxShow MoreShow Less
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The autonomous vehicles from Zoox of Foster City can operate at up to 75 mph and are bidirectional.ZooxShow MoreShow Less
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After Amazon bought Zoox, some speculated Zoox would focus on package delivery. But the company’s CEO said it remains dedicated to its mission of picking up passengers one day.ZooxShow MoreShow Less
The boxy vehicle looks more like a toy than any car you’ve ever seen on the road. It’s bidirectional, meaning it can drive frontwards or backwards with equal ease. Doors on each side slide open to reveal bench seats for four people facing each other and no steering wheel or other manual controls.