The world’s first driverless bus service began carrying passengers in the French city of Lyon.
The vehicle that is fully electric and autonomous, is called NAVLY. It's 4 meters long and has a capacity of 15 passengers, and initially operates a 10-minutes 1,350 meter circular route with five regular stops. This route is located in the Confluence district in the 2nd borough in Lyon and is free of stop lights, crosswalks, or intersections.
Each unit is battery-powered, costs about £170,000, equipped with lasers, sterovision cameras, real-time kinematic GPS, odometry, LiDAR and other electronic systems that detect and analyze any movement around it.
The buses are "equipped with a range of detectors that allow them to know exactly where they are and to detect everything happening around them and to manage it intelligently to avoid collisions," said Christophe Sapet, chief executive of the Navya, the company that created NAVLY.
Capable of a top speed of 45km/h, they don't have a steering wheel of pedals. However, these vehicles are tuned down to travel at 20km/h during the trial period. They also carry a human operator at all times.
The buses that attracted considerable attention on their first day in operation, are not capable in maneuvering around traffic and other routes near a tramway where other types of vehicles aren't allowed.
This is because restrictions in legislation aren't allowing battery-powered vehicles to travel in any routes they want. They are constrained to only specific routes with pictograms to avoid any accidents with any cars or trams.
The French Agency for Environment and Energy management is supporting the project together with the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. The autonomous shuttle operations were approved for use on public roads, only after proving compliance with public safety requirements.
Previously, Navya has tested the buses in several French cities and Switzerland before commissioning two units in Lyon. The company operates the buses on this specific route as it further tests the buses for maneuver around other traffic and vehicles.
Taking a ride on the bus, is initially free of cost.
