Bus without a driver? No problems! Where to ride on unmanned vehicles

News about unmanned vehicles appear almost every day: cars, trucks, even trains. Urban public transport is not far behind - many cities claim testing of unmanned buses on city streets. Helsinki, Las Vegas, Singapore, Tallinn - and these are the only ones that launched the trials this year.



However, now in the world there are cities where unmanned public transport is not an experiment, but ordinary buses, which anyone can ride.

Netherlands

ParkShuttle is a small unmanned bus that runs between the Kralingse Zoom metro station and the Rivium office center in Capelle aan den IJssel, the Netherlands.



ParkShuttle operates according to the staffing of urban transport (from 6 am to 9 pm) and transports more than 2,400 passengers per day. It goes at a speed of 12.5 km / h , and this trip is worth 2.8 euros.



The city government notes that it has been working with 2getthere, which has developed shuttles for over 20 years, and this is not their first common project.

Greece

The population of Trikaly is only 80 thousand people, which is not very much even by Greek standards, but this did not prevent it from becoming the first city in which unmanned vehicles began to be used in real conditions.



Electric buses, designed for 10 people each, move along city streets on a par with cars, bicycles and pedestrians. They are controlled by the French system CityMobil2 . True, they are not moving too fast - only 19 km / h , but the trips are completely free.

England

Heathrow Pods - perhaps the most famous unmanned vehicle system in the world. Rather, it is not public transport, but a taxi service that serves Heathrow Airport, the largest in the UK.



Owing to the huge passenger traffic, traffic jams constantly arose at the entrances to it, because of which the passengers were late for the planes, and the airport management began to look for a solution to the problem.



Now, those who are on a business trip, do not come directly to Heathrow, and leave the cars in a special parking away from the main terminal; then the passenger calls Heathrow Pods - and after only 6 minutes he is at the airport.



Such transport is designed to carry from one to six passengers and travels on a dedicated dedicated lane. Even a child can cope with it: the passenger is only required to call Pod, go inside and press the start button.



Speed ​​Heathrow Pods - 40 km / h . Controls their movement special computer. For additional reliability, cameras themselves are installed on the buses, roads and stations, through which the UAVs are monitored from the central control room.

Russia

The first models of unmanned buses Matrshka drive at a speed of 20 km / h and can carry from 8 to 12 passengers. Rides such a bus on a single charge of 130 km.



It is planned to use “matryoshka” at the territory of airports, Skolkovo, Gorky Park and VDNKh in Moscow, hotel complexes, the Olympic Park - objects with a large area, where public transport does not run and you cannot use your own. In addition, Matryoshka buses will be not only passenger but also freight - for large enterprises that use a large number of inland transport.



So far, Matryoshka drives only along Skolkovo, under the constant control of an operator with a joystick, from which he can quickly stop the bus in case of emergency situations. However, in 2018 it is planned to start mass production and begin commercial use of unmanned buses.







Of course, while unmanned vehicles are not at all like the ones that we know from fantastic films and books, it is slow, needs special infrastructure, can only move short distances along simple routes, not to mention the fact that people do it is necessary to control its movement (even if it is a safety net from the control room). However, a large number of developments and ongoing research give hope that we will soon see more technically advanced projects.