Urban Transport

Self-driving shuttle buses hit the streets of Stockholm

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Some of the first passengers about to board one of the self-driving shuttle buses
Ericsson
Some of the first passengers about to board one of the self-driving shuttle buses
Ericsson
The buses are fully-electric, can travel up to 24 km/h and can operate in non-ideal weather conditions
Ericsson
Ericsson and partners are conducting a six-month trial with two self-driving shuttle buses on the streets of Stockholm
Ericsson
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Telecommunications company Ericsson has partnered with local Swedish public transportation and technology providers to conducta six-month trial of two electric self-driving shuttle buses on public Stockholm roads. The goal is to test how the autonomous vehicles perform under real-word conditions for an extended period alongside cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

The fully-electric buses can carry 11 passengers (free of charge) at speeds of up to 24 km/h (15 mph) in non-ideal weather conditions. Their autonomous driving capabilities are supplied by Ericsson's open API Connected Urban Transport (CUT) platform, which allows the buses to communicate with sensor-enabled bus stops,traffic lights and road-signs.

With successful deployment of similar systems incountries like the Netherlands, the off-the-shelf platform also shares traffic data withtransport agencies and service providers locally, or within multiple municipalities, to help ease congestion.

The testing of the shuttle buses is onestage of the Drive Sweden innovation project, which was launched by the Swedish governmentin 2015 to address issues of road safety,infrastructure and legislation surrounding autonomous vehicles. The second half of the six-month trial will also tests of the buses' connectivity to a 5G network.

Take a look at an earlier prototype of the shuttle buses in the video below.

Source: Ericsson

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6 comments
Buzzclick
Imagine being late and taking am autonomous bus only to have to bear the frustration of 15mph? And that's on a good day. Mix in the fact that buses have to stop and go while picking up and dropping off passengers and driving in winter conditions...so you better sit tight and STFU.
I used to say that if you don't want to do the driving, take the bus or other public transport. Now even the bus driver is getting axed. What can be a better arrangement than one person driving 40+ people?
warren52nz
I welcome and applaud the arrival of autonomous vehicles but I'm struggling to figure out how having a vehicle with a top speed of 24 kph using the same roads as everyone else can speed things up when one with a driver doesn't have a specific top speed and certainly would go faster than that.
Am I missing something here?
Craig Jennings
Call me cynical.... but this will be a mobile tent/shelter in 2 weeks time.
guzmanchinky
Excellent idea! But in some countries I wonder how safe it would be if there is no driver present (to a woman alone at night).
ljaques
Oh, that's perfect. Now the single women can get into their No Go zones (which the Police brass says don't exist!) at night, Guz. And each bus shouldn't cost much more than 25 or so annual salaries of working bus drivers in each city, which will soon be unemployed. Maybe a few can be retained to clean them each night. I wonder how many do windows... Also, the suggestion that the buses might become mobile tents is a real possibility.
Riaanh
Calm down guys, this is only the test phase. At this stage of the technology I personally would prefer a autonomous vehicle to travel 24km/h rather than 100km/h.