When you are sitting in an unmanned self-driving car and suddenly encounter a pedestrian crossing the road, the car may react faster than a human.
Test drive at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on July 24, 2025. All photos in this article were taken by intern reporter Zhang Yunpeng and The Paper reporter Zou Juan
During the World Artificial Intelligence Conference from July 26 to July 29, the autonomous driving experience event will be launched at the World Expo Exhibition Hall. On July 24, a reporter from The Paper got a sneak peek at the L4 autonomous driving shuttle service.
"L2 is assisted driving, and the driver needs to be fully responsible and cannot take his hands off the wheel. L4 is fully unmanned driving, with no safety officer or driver, and can complete driving operations autonomously." Dai Dunfeng, global public relations director of Pony.ai, told reporters.
At 12 noon, a reporter from The Paper got on the car to experience Pony.ai's driverless car. The reporter sat in the rear passenger seat, and was the only person in the car. The area near the China Art Museum was mostly filled with office workers who came out for lunch, and the road conditions were very complicated due to the construction of the venue.
A pedestrian crossing the road appeared in the left blind spot and the autonomous driving system slowed down.
Not long after the car started driving, the autonomous driving car encountered an "emergency" as a group of pedestrians crossed the road instead of walking on the zebra crossing. The reporter noticed that due to the complicated road conditions, it was easy for people in the car to ignore the pedestrians who suddenly appeared on the left side. It was only after the autonomous driving car slowed down that the reporter discovered that there were pedestrians crossing the solid yellow line on the left side of the road. The reporter did not feel any discomfort during the whole process.
The reporter was worried during the whole driving, but the automatic driving was very stable and "smart". When there was a car parked in front of it, it would turn on the turn signal and change lanes to bypass it, instead of "waiting foolishly", and the traffic efficiency was relatively high.
A reporter from The Paper learned that from July 26 to July 29, during the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC2025), within the planned road network of about 30 kilometers around the conference venue, the public can purchase "special event tickets" through the WAIC2025 official website and experience a ride in the shuttle area on the venue; they can also place orders independently on the reservation interfaces of SAIC Zhiji, Pony.ai and other companies, and experience Robotaxi's short-distance shuttle service at designated locations nearby.
The short-distance shuttle service extends to important functional areas in Pudong, such as Jinqiao, Huamu, and the World Expo. Users can experience Robotaxi's medium-distance autonomous and safe passage capabilities under complex road conditions in the core areas of the city, and verify the application potential of the technology in a real urban environment. The event also set up a long-distance shuttle line between Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Disney Resort, covering important transportation hubs and cultural and tourism landmarks, which will fully demonstrate the stability and application prospects of L4 autonomous driving in long-distance, multi-road conditions, and high-frequency passenger service links, and provide valuable field operation data and user feedback for the future large-scale commercial use of autonomous driving.
This year's autonomous driving experience event is one of the two major field application scenario experiences of WAIC 2025, guided by the World Artificial Intelligence Conference Organizing Committee, supported by the Pudong New Area People's Government, hosted by the Pudong New Area Science and Technology Commission, and undertaken by Jinqiao Group and Jinqiao Zhilian. During the event, SAIC Zhiji, Pony.ai, Baidu Zhixing, and Chery Automobile will provide L4 autonomous driving shuttle experience services around the exhibition hall and the core area of Pudong.
