Scania and Nobina have announced a collaboration to commence trials of self-driving buses in Stockholm, Sweden, by 2020.
Details of the trial reveal that two Scania Citywide LF electric buses will run autonomously along a dedicated 5km route from the residential area of Barkarby with four stops.
The trial will be carried out in two stages: firstly operating without passengers, before welcoming on board approximately 300 passengers on the route.
Traffic and control systems for the autonomous buses will be jointly managed by Scania and Nobina, the largest public transportation operator in the Nordic countries.
The technology is now sufficiently mature to initiate trials in actual bus operations on public roads, making the project one of the first of its kind in Europe with buses this size,” said Karin Rådström, head of buses and coaches at Scania.
“The project will provide a wealth of information in the further development of large autonomous buses before a full-scale introduction.”
Throughout the trials, data will be collected on, for example, average speeds, uptime, on-time performance, deviation response and passenger satisfaction.
Several innovative public transportation projects are already under way in Barkarby, which has been described as the world’s most modern city traffic system. Projects include Europe’s first self-driving electric buses in regular scheduled traffic.