The world’s first driverless bus has been trialled on public roads in the Netherlands.
The electric WePod shuttle bus went on Dutch public roads on Thursday. On board were six passengers who were taken on a short ride back and forth along the side of a late in the central Dutch agricultural town of Wageningen.
Top gear was 8 km per hour, “but an unmanned vehicle has never been used on public roads”, the project’s technical director, Jan Willem van der Wiel, said. “This is a milestone.”
When fully operational, the WePod can reach 24 kmph.
The WePod in use was one of a fleet to be deployed in future. If successful it will not only be mixing with regular traffic and carrying passengers but could be extended to transport cargo.
Several trials of autonomous vehicles have already taken place, but the WePod jaunt was the first time a driverless vehicle has been on a public road.
In April, the Dutch will undertake the first trial of driverless semi-trucks with the aim of sending cargo on autonomous road trains from Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam, to other parts of the continent.
