Ordos city -- in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region -- will open its roads for the testing of autonomous driving tourist shuttle buses in mid-July, according to local officials.

The test roads are located in the southern side of the Ordos municipal government offices in the city’s Kangbashi district. They are around seven kilometers long and cover Shifu South Street, Ordos Avenue, Minzu Road, Tuanjie Road, Wenhua West Road, Wenhua East Road and Binhu Road.

The test buses will stop at the Ordos municipal government offices, the Ordos Museum, Jinjiang International Hotel and Wulanmulun Lake.

“It’s easy to cause traffic congestion and other hidden dangers when testing autonomous vehicles in developed cities due to their dense traffic flows,” said Feng Haoru, director of Kangbashi district’s smart city services center.

Kangbashi district was chosen as the test site because of its small passenger and traffic flows, while having good road surfaces and facilities, Feng added.

The maximum speed of the test vehicles will be set at 40 km/h. The vehicles need to perform autonomous driving and manned transportation in accordance with closed-loop routes and stations, so as to ensure maximum road traffic safety.

Feng said that the application of 5G technology was the biggest technical highlight of the test project for autonomous driving shuttle buses.

A total of 21 5G stations have been built to meet the technical requirements of the test vehicles. 

Officials said the independent 5G base stations can achieve lower network delays, maximize the real-time scheduling of vehicles and fast video playbacks for analysis.

The 5G signal is exclusively used for the test vehicles, making automatic driving more stable, safe and efficient, according to Liang Qingchun, a spokesperson for Chinese telecoms giant China Mobile.