Yandex reported that the program of an experimental legal regime (EPR), under which unmanned taxis will be launched in the country, is in the final stage of approval. The exact timing of the launch of the service in Moscow is still unknown, the company said to RIA Novosti.
Yandex said that after the government signs a decree on the EPR program, the company will send testing reports to the Ministry of Economy every six months, which is responsible for the project. In Moscow, unmanned taxis will be launched at the Yasenevo, Novoyasenevskaya and Bitsevsky Park metro stations. At the initial stage, the service will be available to those who applied for participation in the testing. More than 10 thousand such applications have already been received.
It will be possible to call an unmanned taxi in the Yandex Go application. At the first stage, the stops of such a taxi will be tied to public transport stops. The cost of the trip will not differ from the price for a trip in a regular taxi, Yandex noted.
Vedomosti wrote that the Russian government has eliminated interdepartmental differences over the EPR program, and unmanned taxis will be launched in Moscow in February. A spokesman for the government’s press service told the publication that the adoption of the corresponding decree by the government of the Russian Federation is scheduled for January.
Yandex announced plans to launch unmanned taxis in the Moscow district of Yasenevo in September 2021. Testing was supposed to start in the fall.
Read more about Yandex’s drones in the Kommersant FM article “Unmanned taxis will be tested for strength.”
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