Essential Insights
- Driverless rides in Shenzhen and Beijing showed autonomous vehicles nearing everyday transport.
- The empty driver seat felt unsettling, but confidence grew amid traffic.
- Avoiding small talk became an unexpected benefit of these autonomous rides.
- Robotaxis balance private-cabin comfort against practical compromises in everyday transportation.
Robotaxis are taking over China’s cities. What are they actually like to ride?
An empty driver’s seat, and a surprisingly ordinary trip
The driver’s seat sat empty. The steering wheel turned on its own. From the back seat of a Pony.ai robotaxi in Shenzhen, I felt a flicker of nerves as the car joined traffic.
Then the ride began to feel less strange. The car moved through the city, and I noticed an unexpected benefit: no small talk with a driver. That quiet made the cabin feel private and calm. It also showed how quickly a futuristic-looking experience can become an ordinary one.
I tested rides with Pony.ai in Shenzhen and Baidu’s Apollo Go in Beijing. Together, they offered a glimpse of autonomous vehicles moving beyond novelty and into daily transport. Yet the experience did not make every question disappear. A driverless car still needs to take you where you want to go, arrive at a useful time, and fit your budget.
That is where the appeal meets practical limits. A private cabin can offer a peaceful trip. But convenience depends on the service’s coverage, wait times, routes, and cost. Riders also give up the flexibility of asking a human driver for help or advice along the way.
From novelty to a useful part of city life
Robotaxis could become valuable when they make everyday journeys easier. They may offer another option for people who do not drive, or for trips where a private ride feels more convenient than public transport. However, widespread use will depend on more than the technology behind the wheel. Companies and city officials must build public trust, set clear rules, and make the service reliable and affordable.
The rides in Shenzhen and Beijing suggest that autonomous travel does not have to feel dramatic. For much of the trip, the main difference was the empty front seat. That may be the point: a technology becomes useful when people can focus less on how it works and more on where they are going.
Still, robotaxis will not replace every kind of journey. Some people value conversation, personal assistance, or the familiarity of a human driver. Others may simply prefer to drive themselves. As these services expand, cities will need to balance convenience with those choices.
For now, the robotaxi offers a glimpse of a different relationship with travel. It can turn driving time into quiet time. Whether that feels liberating or unsettling will depend on the passenger—and on whether the service proves practical beyond the first ride.
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