Commercial operation of driverless sanitation vehicles launched in south China

GUANGZHOU, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese self-driving startup WeRide launched the commercial operation of driverless sanitation vehicles on open roads in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou on Thursday.

The vehicles will provide daily road-cleaning services from midnight to 7:00 p.m. in Guangzhou International Bio Island, which covers an area of 1.9 square km in the city's Huangpu District, according to the company.

"The vehicles will carry out sanitation work automatically on road sections that need to be cleaned through functions such as water sprinkling and sweeping, which can help improve the efficiency of sanitation and reduce the workload of sanitation workers," said Yang Qingxiong, an executive from WeRide.

The driverless sanitation vehicles have been tested on open roads since May.