Both Israel and China are promoting autonomous driving in public.
In Israel one promotes the Public transport services with $17 million and in Shanghai roads for autonomous driving will be opened.
The Innovation Authority of Israel announced on Sunday the launch of a two-year pilot program. This involves the question of the feasibility of using autonomous buses in local public transport. The program is managed by the Department of Transport and Ayalon Highways. They selected other companies for cooperation. These include, for example, the bus company Egged, but also companies from the USA, France, Turkey and Norway.
With a budget of 61 million shekels, the project is divided into two stages. The first stage examines the technical, economic, legal and safety issues. The second stage is dedicated to operation on public roads. The project will be expanded over time.
In Israel, they want to create an appropriate infrastructure and a legal framework for the operation of autonomous vehicles. (source)
Meanwhile, Shanghai has the first autonomous driving roads presented. It started with a 21.5-kilometer section of the G1503 Shanghai Ring Expressway and 19.5 kilometers of the G2 Beijing-Shanghai Highway in the suburban area of Jiading. It’s faster here too. Furthermore, 303 roads with a total length of 500 kilometers are approved for autonomous driving. Vehicles and people can be transported on these routes.
In addition to the introduction of these roads, Shanghai also published its measures and guidelines for the further development of the intelligent networked transport system in the next three years. After that there should also be an information exchange platform. By the end of time, the city wants to have more than 800 kilometers of roads ready for autonomous driving. This also includes 500 street crossings and more than 100 intelligent parking spaces.