BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Commuters in downtown Barcelona have been able to board the bus for free this week. There's only one catch. There's no one on the wheels on this minibus.
The bus will brake passengers before changing lanes to pull away from the stop, easing one of Barcelona's most fashionable boulevards.
Renault is testing a new unmanned minibus this week in Barcelona. Self-driving cars run on a 2.2 km (1.3 miles) circular route with four stops in the heart of a Spanish city. Adventurous commuters can jump for free.
The French automaker worked with Weride, a company specializing in self-driving cars, to create the prototype. Last year, we announced an unmanned bus at the French opening venue, but now we are testing it on open roads in Barcelona. There are also French Valence and Test Projects at Zurich Airport.
Paw Kugat was one of those interested in taking a short ride along Passage de Gracia Boulevard on Gracia Boulevard.
“We just passed the regular burning engine city bus. I thought, 'Look, there's a bus from the past, and right behind it, you have a bus from the future,'” the 18-year-old student said.
Driverless taxis and buses have been tested by companies in other cities, from San Francisco to Tokyo.
But Renault's initiative is because Europe generally lags behind driverless vehicle technology, and businesses are fiercely competing to advance.
“The US has been doing a lot of experiments with the same thing in China, which is the same,” Patrick Vergeras, head of Renault's Autonomous Mobility Project, told The Associated Press. “Until now, we don't really have much in Europe, and this is why this works and wants to prepare and prepare Europe for this route with public transport.”
The electric bus travels 120 km without charging and can reach 40 km/h (25 mph). Equipped with 10 cameras and 8 ledders (sensor arrays), you can navigate streets filled with cars, motorcycles and pedestrians. The company says buses can drive safely on certain courses through busy downtowns like Barcelona, where buses are bustling.
Carlos Santos of Renault's autonomous driving group said he saw all sorts of reactions from the riders.
“We've seen a lot of people's actions. Some of them were smiling, while others were just starting to cry, take photos, try to open the door,” Santos said before insisting that it was safe to board the bus.
Barcelona city officials said there were no reports of accidents caused by the experimental bus.
