Skip to main content

Dutch municipality to deploy driverless shuttle on public roads

The municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the northern Netherlands is taking part in a three-month self-driving vehicle pilot project, which will see two shuttle vehicles travel from the Netherlands National Forest Service visitor centre to Wester Es in Appelscha, a distance of 1.55 miles. The driverless EZ10 shuttles, developed by Easymile, are autonomous electric vehicles without steering wheel or pedals; a ‘driver’ travels with the vehicle to stop it in the event of an emergency. The shuttles servic
July 7, 2016 Read time: 1 min
The municipality of Ooststellingwerf in the northern Netherlands is taking part in a three-month self-driving vehicle pilot project, which will see two shuttle vehicles travel from the Netherlands National Forest Service visitor centre to Wester Es in Appelscha, a distance of 1.55 miles.

The driverless EZ10 shuttles, developed by 8246 Easymile, are autonomous electric vehicles without steering wheel or pedals; a ‘driver’ travels with the vehicle to stop it in the event of an emergency.

The shuttles service run on virtual tracks that can be easily configured to accommodate sudden shifts in demand. It uses cameras, lasers and GPS to detect other vehicles and pedestrians and adjusts its trajectory and speed to avoid a collision.

For the pilot, the shuttle, which seats 10 people and it has a maximum speed of a little less than 10 miles per hour, will operate during daylight and under favourable conditions.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Workzone safety can be economically viable
    October 24, 2014
    David Crawford looks how workzone safety can be ‘economically viable’. Highway maintenance is one of the most dangerous construction industry occupations in Europe. Research from The Netherlands on fatal crashes indicates that the risk facing road workzone operatives is ‘significantly higher’ than that for the general construction workforce. A survey carried out by the Highways Agency, which runs the UK’s motorway and trunk road network, has suggested that 20% of road workers have suffered injuries from pa
  • Daimler Buses introduces pedestrian recognition for buses
    July 4, 2017
    Daimler Buses is launching the new Active Brake Assist 4 (ABA 4) with pedestrian recognition which it says is the world's first emergency braking assistance system in a bus to automatically brake for pedestrians.
  • Pioneering sensors collect weather data from moving vehicles
    January 20, 2012
    ITS International contributing editor David Crawford foresees the vehicle as 'sentinel being'
  • Flexible, cost efficient bus trailers adapt to passenger demand
    January 25, 2012
    The cost, environmental and other benefits of the bus trailer concept are obvious. Used in several areas of Germany, as well as Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, vehicle sizes can be adapted to passenger demand. The Ruebenacker group, a public transport provider in the Black Forest region of Germany, is one of more than 20 bus operators in the country that have deployed bus trailers, also referred to as bus trains. The company owns 81 buses and transports nearly six million passengers a year in the Blac