The World's first self-driving taxis have started running on the streets of Singapore. These taxis are being operated by an autonomous vehicle software start-up - nuTonomy. The service is currently being offered to select members of the public, only through invitation. Being a pilot project, customers are being offered free rides in the taxis, which can be booked through a Smartphone App.

nuTonomy claims to be aiming a full self-driving taxi fleet in Singapore by 2018. This, according to the company, would help in reducing the number of cars from 900,000 to 300,000 cars on Singapore roads.

Only six cars have been added to the fleet as of now, which the company hopes to increase to 12 by the end of this year. Currently, the taxi service is being operated in a business and residential district called 'One-North', which spans over an area of 2.5-square-mile. Moreover, pickup and drop-off locations are currently available only on specified spots.

The cars being used by the taxi service are modified versions of the Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Each car gets six sets of Lidar - a detection system that uses lasers to operate like radar, one of which is mounted on the roof that constantly spins to detect obstacles in the car's way. Additionally, two cameras mounted on the dashboard monitor traffic movement and traffic signal changes.

nuTonomy has beaten Uber to become the world's first self-driving taxi provider. Uber too will be starting self-driving taxi operations in Pittsburg in the coming weeks.

Source: Bloomberg