Following the disappointment of the NAIAS canceling plans for Yandex self-driving vehicles to be providing rides in Detroit, Michigan, in June 2020, the Yandex Self-Driving Cars team sought out a new Michigan location to continue testing.
Today, they announced Ann Arbor.
Dmitry Polishchuk, Head of Yandex Self-Driving Cars, went on record in the announcement on Medium to say:
We are trying to use our testing locations to the fullest. For example, Innopolis is the only testing location in Russia that allows self-driving cars to transport passengers without regulations requiring that an engineer be present behind the driver’s wheel. This is where we launched Europe’s first “robotaxi” service two years ago and, since then, have made thousands of trips without a driver behind the wheel. Ann Arbor, with its bigger size and more progressive regulatory environment, will enable us to take this experience a step further.
Ann Arbor is the third testing ground, joining Moscow and Israel.
Yandex has chosen Michigan due to a “progressive and supportive” regulatory environment, allowing more autonomy and development. Ths is in comparison to Moscow and Israel, who require an engineer to be behind the wheel at all times.
What’s an autonomous drive like?
In May 2020, Yandex published this 35-minute video from the perspective of “the driver” as to what an autonomous drive around the city of Moscow looks and feels like.
