Half of Beijing taxis equipped with BDS navigation system

Some 33,500 taxis in Beijing, about half of the total, are now equipped with the domestic BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. [Photo/VCG]

Some 33,500 taxis in Beijing, about half of the total, are now equipped with the domestic BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

Kong Lei, commission deputy director, said BDS-related revenues have quickly increased from about 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) in 2012 to about 50 billion today, with research teams at Tsinghua University, Beihang University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences making breakthroughs in high-precision satellite navigation and positioning.

A complete industry chain is gradually forming as research institutes, manufacturers and service providers join system development and implementation. Efforts have also been made to build a service platform to support integrated growth of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, employing BDS in transportation and other sectors.

Over 90,000 Beidou terminals have been applied in Beijing. Some 4,000 are used for emergency flood response, while e-commerce logistics have about 1,500 trucks and 20,000 workers equipped with vehicle-mounted or handheld BDS terminals.

The BDS system also enables real-time monitoring of cars in the hailing service. It has also been applied to develop a management system that offers positioning and other information to fire engines and firefighters.