新加坡在这场部署自动驾驶汽车的全球竞赛中抢得了先机。周四，该国启动了世界上第一次自动出租车服务公开测试。
Singapore has claimed a head-start in the global race to deploy self-driving cars with the launch on Thursday of the world’s first public trial of a robo-taxi service.
这次测试允许被选中的公众成员使用一款智能手机app呼叫自动驾驶出租车，体验一次免费乘坐。这些车辆是由美国创业企业nuTonomy运营的。自今年4月以来，该公司一直在新加坡进行自动驾驶车辆试验。
The trial allows selected members of the public to use a smartphone app to hail a free ride in autonomous cars operated by nuTonomy, a US start-up that has been conducting trials of self-driving vehicles in Singapore since April.
在出行时，被选中的乘客会进入一辆经过特殊配置的雷诺Zoe或三菱i-MiEV 电动车。nuTonomy公司将派一名工程师陪同乘客，在必要时，工程师可以接管汽车。
The passengers, travelling either in a specially configured Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle, will be accompanied by one of the company’s engineers, who can take control of the vehicle if necessary.
这次试验抢在了优步(Uber)前面。预计在几周内，优步将开始跟客户在美国的匹兹堡市测试一批自动驾驶出租车。
The trial steals a march on Uber, which is expected to begin testing an autonomous taxi fleet with customers in the US city of Pittsburgh within weeks.
优步以及谷歌(Google)、特斯拉(Tesla)和沃尔沃(Volvo)等自动汽车行业先行者已开始进行车辆路面测试，并取得了不同程度的成功。但nuTonomy表示，它是第一家在真实世界里向公众成员提供自动驾驶体验的公司。
Uber and pioneers of the autonomous car industry including Google, Tesla and Volvo are already road-testing self-driving vehicles with varying success, but nuTonomy says it is the first to offer rides to members of the public in a real-world setting.
这次试验共出动6辆汽车，试验将在正常交通状况下完成，并包括顺畅和繁忙两种路线。
The trial, involving a fleet of six cars, will be conducted in normal traffic and includes both light and heavy traffic routes.
这次试验的目的是收集有关nuTonomy自动驾驶软件的表现、路线选择效率和车辆预定程序的数据。nuTonomy计划于2018年在新加坡推出一项商业化的自动驾驶出租车服务。
The pilot is being used to gather data on the performance of nuTonomy’s self-driving software, routing efficiency and the vehicle booking process ahead of the launch of a commercial robo-taxi service in Singapore, scheduled for 2018.