Europe’s first driverless bus trial begins

Two automated driverless vehicles have begun transporting passengers in Sardinia as part of tests co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme. The demonstrations are led by the City Mobil 2 project, which is testing automated vehicles in real-life urban environments. The two driverless buses, which can carry up to 12 passengers each, are being piloted on a busy pedestrianised seafront promenade in Oristano. The route is about 1.3 km long and has seven stops. The buses are guided by a differenti
August 15, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Two automated driverless vehicles have begun transporting passengers in Sardinia as part of tests co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme.

The demonstrations are led by the City Mobil 2 project, which is testing automated vehicles in real-life urban environments. The two driverless buses, which can carry up to 12 passengers each, are being piloted on a busy pedestrianised seafront promenade in Oristano. The route is about 1.3 km long and has seven stops.

The buses are guided by a differential global positioning system (DGPS) and have three levels of safety: two laser scanners on the front that detect obstacles within 30 metres; ultra-sound detectors on the front and the sides that recognise obstacles even if not in the bus’s direct trajectory; and a mechanical device that forces a stop in an emergency.

The demo, which finishes on 30 August, is organised in partnership with the Municipality of Oristano, the regional public transport operator ARST and transport planning consultancy company MLAb.

Location Based Systems Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • SCATS study shows significant savings
    December 16, 2013
    Australian study quantifies the benefits of SCATS to the motorists, the environment and the economy. Opportunity weekday cost savings potential of some AUD16 million (US$15.2 million) has emerged from rigorous analysis of a one-day study of Australia’s Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) in operation. This represents 27% of the total cost of a real alternative semi-adaptive traffic control. The estimated indicative annual weekday-based value is AUD3,900 million (US$3,705 million) or 0.9% of t
    Read More
  • Traffic signal priority initiatives aid better bus travel
    March 15, 2012
    David Crawford investigates traffic signal priority initiatives developing for better bus travel on the US Pacific Coast Transit patronage rises by an average of 35% along commuter corridors equipped with bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). BRT as defined as bus transit enhanced with ITS systems for better services, is winning new passengers attracted by opportunity to avoid increasing fuel costs and traffic congestion.
    Read More
  • Daimler launches its ‘bus of the future’
    July 21, 2016
    Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz Future Bus made its first autonomous trip on a public road recently, when it was driven at speeds of up to 70 km/h on a section of a bus rapid transit route in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The 20 kilometre route, which links Schiphol Airport with the town of Haarlem, provided a challenge for the bus, with its numerous bends, tunnels and traffic signals. Although a driver was on board for safety reasons, for the most part the bus met the challenge autonomously, stopping at bus sto
    Read More
  • New approach to data handling aids development of smarter cities
    January 14, 2013
    David Crawford has been to the Irish capital to see a potent memorandum of understanding at work. An imaginative collaboration between the world’s largest IT company and one of Europe’s smaller capital cities is demonstrating a new approach to data handling that could have far reaching implications for urban public transport worldwide. A close working relationship between IBM and Dublin City Council (DCC) dates from 2010.
    Read More

Highlighted Content