BERLIN (GERMANY) (ITALPRESS) – A self-driving bus, one of the most advanced technologies set to revolutionize public transport, was unveiled by Busitalia in collaboration with the Dutch QBuzz at InnoTrans 2024, the leading international exhibition dedicated to rail transport and innovative mobility. The buses were developed in response to several key challenges in the transportation sector, including increasing demand for mobility and the need to reduce operating costs. They are equipped with low-cost retrofit autopilot and state-of-the-art technologies, such as high-reliability sensors and a drive-by-wire control system. These solutions allow safe and flexible vehicle management, ensuring continuous service even in areas and time slots where traditional public transport is less sustainable. Busitalia operates according to an intermodal approach that perfectly complements the rail network, both in urban centers and in suburban areas. Internationally, the Fs Group company is active in the Netherlands through Qbuzz, which brings to Innotrans the best practice of the first autonomous bus depot established in the city of Groningen. This automated depot enables safe operations without human intervention, such as washing, refueling, and parking vehicles. This reduces the risk of accidents and frees up space for additional infrastructure, such as charging stations for electric buses. The two companies’ goal is to develop solutions to integrate autonomous transportation into public transport services by 2040, improving efficiency and reducing environmental impact. “A driverless system that makes it possible that the bus can move autonomously managed by sensors and software that lead it on the route that is designated. It is a prototype, we are in the experimental phase, the applications that we will develop first will be those within depots, then closed circuits, however, the project is to be able in the years to succeed, supported also by a legislation that does not exist, to go outside to serve the public,” explains Stefano Bonora, Ad of Busitalia. “We imagine that within closed circuits, such as depots, within a year we can activate the system,” he continues, “in Italy the timeline is the same. Going on the road is quite different, we imagine protected lanes at least in the initial stages also for safety issues, however, the technology in our opinion will arrive before the legislation. So within 3-4 years we could put them into operation.” Trenitalia’s Ad, Luigi Corradi, points out that “we are working more and more with Busitalia to create intermodality between train and road, the future must be a service, and since the train cannot get everywhere, the idea is to become more and more integrated.” In the self-driving bus, “innovation is really high, an evolution that is also going on for buses. We are in a prototype stage, but one of the activities of FS is just to make innovation and then support the technological part. This will be the vehicle of the future, but it will still take time for it to be seen in operation,” he concludes.(ITALPRESS).-Photo: xb1/Italpress-
