Roads in Helsinski, Finland, will soon be riddled with self-driving buses; or parts of the city at the very least. Finland will soon have its own high-tech public transportation system owing to regulations that do not require a driver to be present behind the wheel. Strange as the law may sound, it actually plays into the hands of proponents self-driving vehicles. It also helps remove the red tapism that is believed to be deterrent to the driverless vehicle cause.
The self-driving buses will be dispatched in the Hernesaari district in the capital city of Helsinki during a month-long trial. The buses are allowed to travel alongside vehicles in regular traffic conditions, much like how Google has been testing its cars. However, unlike Google’s driverless vehicles, it not clear how much these vehicles have been tested in the past. As a result, one can only hope that this will not lead to many accidents.
Project leader Harri Santamala acknowledged the enormity of the situation in an interview with a local media outlet. “There’s no more than a handful of these kinds of street traffic trials taking place, if that,” he said. Mr. Santamala also moved to address the fears of those in favor of keeping human jobs. He clarified that the buses will eventually be used to supplement public transportation instead of replacing it. He mentioned high-traffic or high-volume bus areas as good examples of where the automated connected bus would come in handy.
The electric buses can carry up to 10 passengers at a time, and have a top speed of 6 mph (9.6 kmh). That might make for a slow ride, and perhaps suggests that the buses are limited to short distance traveling. Hence, they cannot possibly replace traditional buses in the short term. By limiting the top speed, the bus cannot fatally injure someone in most cases. Hence, it is unlikely that it will get into a collision with other cars (unless the other driver has a case of road rage and cannot stand driving behind a slow vehicle).
The buses are the brainchild of French company EasyMile. EasyMile was created by combining the expertise of Robosoft, an Indian robotics firm, and French automaker Ligier. The joint venture has yielded results positive enough to roll the buses out on populated roads. Similar bus trials were carried out in Vantaa, Finland, in 2015; those buses operated on closed tracks, and the trial phase was hence less reflective of real-world conditions.
A number of countries are looking at such systems, while China already tested out an autonomous bus last year (albeit with a driver behind the wheel). Interestingly enough, driverless cars are not expected to hit the roads before 2020, at least in the US. This indicates that some areas in the world might actually make more progress before long. However, one has to stress the importance of safety over early deployment of such vehicles. If the vehicles in Helsinski can pull off successful trials without a glitch, there is no reason why such electric buses should not be put into production.
