Skip to main content

Finnish university launches self-driving buses in Helsinki

Helsinki’s Metropolia University of Applied Sciences has begun a trial of self-driving buses on the streets of Helsinki as part of the SOHJOA-project coordinated by the university, which aims to provide opportunities for Finnish companies to develop new traffic automation products and services ideas. The two French-made EasyMile EZ10 buses have no steering wheel or pedals and run on virtual tracks that can be configured to accommodate sudden changes in demand. They can carry ten passengers and have a dri
August 18, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Helsinki’s Metropolia University of Applied Sciences has begun a trial of self-driving buses on the streets of Helsinki as part of the SOHJOA-project coordinated by the university, which aims to provide opportunities for Finnish companies to develop new traffic automation products and services ideas.

The two French-made 8246 EasyMile EZ10 buses have no steering wheel or pedals and run on virtual tracks that can be configured to accommodate sudden changes in demand. They can carry ten passengers and have a driver on board in case of emergency.

The buses will be trialled in Espoo in September and in Tampere in October until the first snow falls. The trials will continue in the spring of 2017.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Texas A&M offer free campus transport testing
    October 27, 2016
    Free evaluation and testing of transportation systems and products might seem too good to be true - but it isn’t. Colin Sowman reports. Texas A&M University is offering to host transport technology demonstrations and research projects free of charge at its Main and newly-renamed Rellis campuses. The initiative’s aim is to encourage those with technologies that could improve transportation to bring their products, systems and ideas to Texas A&M’s campus where they can be evaluated, tested and demonstrated.
  • Assocations news around the globe
    October 29, 2015
    There will be no roadside parking in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, 15 years from now, predicts ITS Finland’s CEO Sampo Hietanen. “Instead, a self-driving car will pick you up within in ten minutes of your pressing a button on your smartphone. The car will continue its journey once you have reached your destination.”
  • Finland successfully tests wood-based diesel fuel
    December 2, 2016
    Finnish company UPM has tested Finnish wood-based diesel fuel both in laboratory conditions as well as in traffic and says the tests demonstrated that its renewable diesel, UPM BioVerno, works like the best diesel fuels. The laboratory tests of renewable UPM BioVerno diesel were conducted at the VTT Technical Research Centre (VTT), with field tests in Helsinki region bus traffic in collaboration with Helsinki Region Transport (HSL). The year-long bus field tests measurements were carried out by VTT and t
  • Ford trials technology to help drivers ‘ride the green wave’
    October 24, 2016
    Ford is currently trialling technology which aims to reduce time spent waiting at a red light. Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory uses information on traffic light timings from a roadside unit to display to the driver the best speed to travel at to get a green light. The tests are part of the UK Autodrive self-driving and connected car trial, a 16-member, publicly funded US$24 million (£20 million) project which is developing and trialling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure technologies tha