Buses at the Forefront of Self-Driving Technology
We Always hear about Self driving cars and Ubers - So Why not buses too?
In one Manchester Depot, trials are being carried out on an Automated Single Decker. Dozens of engineers had come together ultimately to get to the stage of having finished model/s.
Some maneuvers included parking drills and the bus moving into an area to be washed.
For the next few years though, it may not be as exciting as we would anticipate… SAE International has graded the Self-Driving buses at Level 4 Driving Automation, which means that for some maneuvers, there will still need to be a safety driver on-board to monitor the activities or to avoid collisions when necessary.
This breathes a sigh of relief somewhat on the thousands of Bus Drivers working across the UK, who will fear their jobs to be at risk with technology advancing so fast.
The Spec of the new fleet will include :
- 43 Seats per bus
- On-Board SatNav
- A range of Sensors, with Multiple View cameras
- CAVstar Installed Navigation System
Although these will not be rolled out for at least another 3 years, it’s definitely a sign that service is shifting from manual to automated - Which is bad news for those who work in technical industries where an automated competitor could arise.
Written by Harrison Jones