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1. September 1, 2016
SELF-DRIVE TAXIS
On August 25, a new public trans-
port service began in Singapore. It
is the world’s first driverless taxi
trial. Called robo-taxis, they have
been developed by an American
company called nuTonomy. This
company was set up three years
ago. It now has 50 workers and of-
fices in Massachusetts, in the U.S.,
and Singapore.
The trial has six self-drive taxis.
They are operating in one area of the
city. It is about 2.5 square miles (6.5
squarekilometers).Theareaincludes
residential buildings, company
offices and factories. There are six
places, or stops, at which people
can get in and out of the taxis. At
first, only people who have been
specially selected can use the taxis.
They do not have to pay any money.
Standing at one of the six stops,
these people can order a driverless
taxi from their smartphone.
The nuTonomy Company does
not make cars. Instead it designs
and produces the “driverless” soft-
ware. This software is then fitted to
“normal” or “non-driverless” cars.
The company’s self-drive taxis in
Singapore are Renault and Mitsubi-
shi electric cars. These have been
fitted with nuTonomy’s self-drive
software. By the end of this year, the
number of taxis in the trial is to be
increased to ten. More people will
be selected to use them.
Self-drive taxi in Singapore (nuTonomy)
Thefirstsixtaxisdohaveaperson
sitting in the driving seat. They work
for nuTonomy. These people do not
drive the taxis, but can take control
in an emergency. The Singapore
government has set up a department
to study driverless vehicles. This
department will collect information
and passenger feedback about the
taxi trial. The bosses of nuTonomy
believe that they will be operating a
large driverless fleet of taxis in Sin-
gapore by the end of 2018.
There are many taxis in Singa-
pore. Few people own their own
cars. The government has delib-
erately made car ownership very
expensive in Singapore. Many peo-
ple use the networks of trains and
buses. Taxis are inexpensive. The
government’s transport plans mean
that traffic flows freely in Singa-
pore for most of the time. Gridlock
is unusual. The roads are well or-
ganized and drivers obey the rules.
Singapore is an ideal city for driv-
erless vehicles.
The Uber Company has created
its own driverless software. Uber is
a new type of American transport
company. It has grown very quickly.
Uberalreadyoperatestaxiservicesin
over66countries.Itsdriversusetheir
own cars. The company has created
an “app” that “matches” customers
with the Uber drivers. Customers use
the app on their smartphone to order
a taxi. Within a few seconds, the app
alerts the nearest Uber driver. He or
she then picks up the customer.
Uber is about to start a driverless
taxi trial in the city of Pittsburgh, in
the U.S..
At first, similar to the trial in
Singapore, an engineer will sit in
the driver’s seat. Several large car-
making companies, such as Ford,
Volvo and BMW, have also been
experimenting with driverless
vehicles.

2. Self-drive taxis
self-drive taxis taxis que se manejan solos
driveless taxis taxis sin chofer
trial prueba experimental
set up fundar, instalar, abrir,
at first al principio
fitted to hecho para
is to be incresed debería incrementarse
collect recopilar, recoger, recaudar
feedback críticas, comentarios
fleet of taxis flota de taxis
few people poca gente
ownership propiedad, posesión
networks of trains redes de trenes
inexpensive no caro
flows freely fluya libremente
gridlock embotellamiento
its own su propio
app aplicación
matches combina, coincida, empate, empareja
large car-making companies compañías grandes que hacen carros