Driverless Post buses will hit the streets in spring of 2016 in Valais
In what is a first for Switzerland’s public transport system, two new
autonomous buses sporting PostBus’s distinctive yellow livery will be
put in service in Sion during a two-year test period from spring 2016.
The electric-powered vehicles will be able to carry nine passengers at a
time and will be in service in tourist zones in Sion’s Old Town.
Installed with technology developed by Lausanne-based start-up
BestMile, the distinctive vehicles will be able to navigate roads
accurately, identify obstacles and read road signs.
The project is the first commercial contract for BestMile, a company
formed in January 2014 by two EPFL graduates, Anne Koymans and Raphaël
Gindrat.
It’s the result of a two-year joint research project conducted by
BestMile and EPFL to develop the mathematical algorithms that allow
driverless vehicles to deal with different scenarios on the road and be
operated remotely.
In a statement,
BestMile said its technology “offers a solution to control fleets of
autonomous vehicles in the same way a control tower does in an airport”.
Following a six-month testing period at EPFL, the company is working with Nayva, a French specialist in sustainable mobility, to install its technology in two Navya Arma shuttles that will roam Sion.
Speaking to The Local, BestMile co-founder Koymans said it was “really
exciting” that the startup had its first customer and was already in
discussions with other potential customers.
“We have already participated in two big European projects but this is
the first time a customer will use our platform,” she said.
“There is a lot of interest for driverless mobility solutions, partly thanks to Google,” she added.
“Cities are interested but also public transport operators and the interest is increasing.”
However unlike tech-giant Google, which is developing driverless cars
for private use, BestMile is focusing on public transport and what
Koyman terms “the last mile issue”, meaning using driverless vehicles to
bridge the gap between the last stop of public transport and the final
destination of the user.
“These are two different approaches that can be complementary,” said Koymans.
It remains to be seen how the development of driverless buses will
impact on Switzerland, but Valerie Gerl, spokeswoman for PostAuto, said
drivers will not be out of a job.
“We will always need drivers,” she told newspaper Tribune de Geneve.
“The goal is not to put these buses on existing lines: we want to see
if this system will be appropriate to link places which aren’t currently served by public transport.”
The Local Switzerland
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