The report of the 20th CPC National Congress emphasized the need to accelerate the construction of a strong transportation country and a digital China; the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Digital Transportation" clearly stated that transportation should be integrated with "digital" in all aspects. Transportation is the vein of the economy and the bond of civilization. It is a major issue that concerns both the economy and people's livelihood. With the maturity of innovative technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing, and with the support of national policies, digital transportation construction has entered a critical development period.

Through long-term, intensive and marathon-style R&D investment, Baidu has become the only high-tech enterprise in China that has mastered the full stack of autonomous and controllable technologies for vehicles, roads and transportation. Recently, with the approval of the Ministry of Transport, Baidu has become a pilot unit for the construction of a strong transportation country. In the new era, Baidu is committed to becoming "the AI ​​leader in realizing a strong transportation country" and a booster for the construction of a strong transportation country.

Smart transportation solves safety, congestion and carbon emission issues

How to make intelligent transportation based on the new generation of intelligent technology? What key problems can it solve? These are the directions Baidu has been thinking about and practicing. Baidu's intelligent transportation concept starts with autonomous driving, based on smart cars and smart roads, and car-road collaboration, and deeply integrates technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and cloud computing into the transportation field.

We believe that intelligent transportation can solve three major problems: First, reduce road safety accidents. According to the official website of the International Highway Safety Association, about 1.35 million people die in traffic accidents every year, which means that on average one person dies in a traffic accident every 24 seconds around the world. Among adolescents and young people aged 5-29, road safety injuries are the number one cause of death. Solving safety problems is a great mission. Intelligent transportation systems based on autonomous driving are expected to reduce 90% of traffic safety accidents.

Second, we need to effectively solve the congestion problem. If we continue with the current development model, we will have more cars and more people in cities. In 2030, China will have 450 million cars (now 280 million) - with bigger and bigger cities, more and more cars - we urgently need to find new solutions for urban transportation.

Self-driving cars can improve traffic efficiency. In 2018, Science magazine published an article that in a simulation test, in an 8-shaped traffic scene, adding one self-driving car to 14 cars can double the traffic speed. Not long ago, Baidu released the Apollo RT6, a self-driving car without a steering wheel. Based on a major breakthrough in self-driving technology, Baidu has reduced the cost of unmanned vehicles to only 1/10 of the original price, which is about the same as the price of ordinary new energy vehicles on the market, which will accelerate the popularization of self-driving cars.

Vehicle-road collaboration and adaptive intelligent traffic control can also improve traffic efficiency. AI traffic control is a very complex technology, and Baidu has already achieved the world's leading position. In Beijing Yizhuang, through intelligent traffic control optimization, that is, intelligently adjusting traffic lights according to actual traffic flow, citizens can achieve "green light freedom" without encountering red lights at 9 intersections. The average delay time per vehicle has dropped by nearly 30%.

According to calculations, intelligent transportation based on vehicle-road collaboration can improve traffic efficiency by 15%-30% and promote an absolute GDP growth of 2.4%-4.8% per year. With the in-depth practice of intelligent transportation, we believe that within four years, China's first-tier cities will no longer need "purchase restrictions" or "traffic restrictions". Within nine years, the congestion problem will be basically solved by improving traffic efficiency.

The third is to help reduce carbon emissions. China has made a commitment to the world to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. This is the 3060 national "dual carbon" goal. At present, carbon emissions in my country's transportation sector account for about 10% of the total carbon emissions of the whole society. Baidu's intelligent transportation carbon reduction starts from three aspects: vehicles, roads, and travel. Including the electrification and intelligence of vehicles; the networking of roads; and the sharing of travel. Help the green and low-carbon transformation of transportation and achieve the dual carbon goals.

From national economic development to people's travel, the value of intelligent transportation in "serving the present" is becoming increasingly prominent, and is actually solving important issues such as safety, congestion, and carbon emissions.

Innovation-driven development accelerates the construction of a strong transportation nation

We believe that the most significant industrial changes in the next 20 years will be born in the field of transportation. For example, just as smartphones need 3G, 4G and 5G network support, the rise of a new generation of smart cars requires the construction of smart transportation network infrastructure and more efficient operations. The smart transportation operator model will change the traditional smart transportation construction format, bringing disruptive innovation and far-reaching impact to transportation, cities and even the economy and society.

Innovation-driven development is an important driving force for accelerating the construction of a strong transportation country. Recently, the Ministry of Transport announced the requirements for pilot work on the construction of a strong transportation country, and in principle agreed to Baidu's pilot work in five areas: high-precision map construction, intelligent vehicle technology research and development and application, intelligent road technology research and development and application, real-time cloud platform research and development, and intelligent transportation industry ecosystem development. Baidu will make breakthrough progress in 3-5 years, form a batch of advanced experience and typical results, give full play to the demonstration and leading role, and provide experience for the construction of a strong transportation country.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful engine for the development of transportation. Based on artificial intelligence technology, Baidu has actively explored new development paths for intelligent transportation and achieved some important results. Baidu Intelligent Transportation and its ecological partners continue to promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence with infrastructure, transportation equipment, transportation services, and industry governance to build a full-stack urban intelligent transportation system with real-time perception, instantaneous response, and intelligent decision-making. As of the end of 2021, the products, services, and solutions of Baidu Intelligent Transportation and its ecological partners have been implemented in more than 50 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, Dalian, Cangzhou, Hefei, and many highways in provinces such as Hebei, Shanxi, Sichuan, and Hunan.

On the Beijing-Xiongan Expressway, the construction of smart highways has cleared the fog for truck drivers, ensured their safety, and recovered economic losses; in Chongqing Yongchuan, smart traffic management has been put into use, and AI has become the new "assistant" for the 28-year-old traffic policeman, increasing the efficiency of handling traffic police incidents by 35%... Through practices in many places, Baidu Intelligent Transportation continues to drive regional economic and social development, promote the digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of regional transportation infrastructure, and enhance people's sense of gain in travel.

Smart infrastructure will be more efficient

Under the concepts of "trial first" and "dare to be the first in the world", the Ministry of Transport has issued a draft "Guidelines for Autonomous Driving Vehicle Transportation Safety Services (Trial)" for soliciting opinions, which will greatly promote the further improvement of autonomous driving industry regulations and the innovation and implementation of autonomous driving technology from the top-level design.

With policy support, my country is at the forefront of the world in the development and application of driverless technology. However, from the perspective of industrial practice, the integration and development of domestic artificial intelligence with the automotive and transportation industries still faces many obstacles and requires more government guidance and corporate participation.

Thanks to China's institutional advantages, we have established a strong physical infrastructure network in the fields of transportation, energy, water conservancy, communications, etc. However, in the past, the construction focused on hardware and neglected software, and the level of intelligence was not high, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. For example, the current road traffic network cannot improve traffic efficiency and reduce accident rates through real-time signal light adjustment and vehicle-road collaboration. In order to ease traffic congestion and reduce air pollution, various places have to implement restrictions on the purchase and use of cars, which has not only curbed the consumer demand that should have been there, but also caused many people to waste a lot of time on the road.

We believe that strengthening top-level design, appropriately deploying smart transportation "soft infrastructure" in advance, and accelerating intelligent transformation will allow infrastructure to play a much higher role than today, bringing the people a smarter transportation experience. In addition, my country's autonomous driving technology faces fierce competition, and opportunities are fleeting. We look forward to multiple departments jointly promoting the introduction of more groundbreaking innovative policies, accelerating the revision of the Road Traffic Safety Law, and allowing high-level autonomous driving vehicles to legally go on the road as soon as possible.