After years of experimenting with self-driving vans to offer a cheap alternative in rural areas to the loss-making bus lines with driver, we can cautiously conclude that this has not led to a different form of public transport. Experiments have been going on for many years, including in Ede-Wageningen, Drimmelen and Appelscha.

self-raising with support

Perhaps one of the main reasons is that it is not easy to get such a vehicle to move smoothly through traffic, partly due to the implicit oversight. In the German town of Monheim am Rhein, five self-driving vans run on one of the public transport lines. Unfortunately, there too, the vans are not yet fully autonomous, because employees of the company take over the controls at busy intersections.

In the Ghent hospital Maria Middelares is a self-propelled van arrived. Nicknamed Olli, this first in hospital land will transport visitors and patients between a tram stop and the hospital entrance. But here too, a driver will still be driving in the first phase. Self-driving transport is also being tested in Groningen. In Scheemda, for example, a self-driving van has been driving to the hospital for some time.

trial of the European project FABULOS

After the summer, self-driving minivans will drive for three months between Brandevoort station, in the new housing estate of the same name, and the Automotive Campus. The vans drive the route with travelers, between normal traffic. However, a number of safety requirements must first be met, the municipality of Helmond and three European consortia have agreed.

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