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

  • Copenhagen: everything's gone green
    October 3, 2018
    As the ITS World Congress arrives in Copenhagen, Adam Hill finds out how Dynniq has been helping traffic flow – and CO2 reduction - in the Danish capital. Most of the time, ‘breathing easier’ is just an expression which indicates a metaphorical sigh of relief that something has worked out alright. But it can be literally true, too. Respiratory and other potential health problems which stem from pollution in the world’s increasingly urbanised environments have been well publicised and governments are
    Read More
  • New AI traffic project developed in Hungary, Turkey and Japan
    February 26, 2024
    Medianets Lab's Tralico will be tested on streets of Istanbul in bid to reduce congestion
    Read More
  • Is Europe's Galileo project value for money?
    February 2, 2012
    Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project
    Read More
  • In-vehicle intersection violation Warning system
    January 31, 2012
    Mike Schagrin, ITS Joint Program Office, RITA, and John Harding, NHTSA, describe US progress towards an in-vehicle Intersection Violation Warning system. In 2008, there were 37,261 fatalities on US roadways. Of these, 7,772, some 20.8 per cent of the total, were defined as intersection crashes or intersection-related crashes. Through a multi-agency research initiative led by the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has developed a prototype In
    Read More

Highlighted Content