The Mercedes-Benz city bus of the future – appropriately called Future Bus – completed a milestone journey that showcased how its CityPilot autonomous driving technology can help it successfully navigate a complicated urban route. This nearly 20 km long route is a real challenge for the Mercedes-Benz Future Bus, as it has numerous bends and passes through tunnels and across junctions with traffic lights. The driver is on board and monitors the system, but with a much easier task than before. This makes public transport safer, more efficient and more productive.
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Mercedes-Benz has given us a glimpse of what the future of public transport may look like, with a demo of its Future Bus with CityPilot. It has however undergone substantial further development specifically for use in a city bus, with numerous added functions. It improves efficiency, as its smooth, predictive driving style saves wear and tear while lowering fuel consumption and emissions. This in turn positively impacts operating and maintenance costs, vehicle lifetime and availability.
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According to Mercedes-Benz, the City Pilot setup is “ideally suitable for BRT [bus rapid transit] systems”, which typically have large sections of its route cordoned off from other road users. If the driver interferes with the system, brakes or accelerates or steers, the system assumes that the driver has taken control and the CityPilot system is switched off automatically. The intelligent connectivity of the cameras and sensors allows a precise picture of the surroundings and the exact positioning of the bus, says Daimler. That means the bus knows whether or not the light is green without relying on artificial intelligence processing of camera images. Any intervention from the side of the driver overrides and terminates the “automatic” mode. Red lights ahead; the bus independently brakes gently and comes to a standstill safely. It can also drive through tunnels and recognize obstacles in the road. The completely low-floor bus is divided into three areas: The “service” area is at the front near the driver; the “express” area for short journeys with a focus on standing room and quick passenger flow is in the middle. These systems convey some 30-million passengers every day. The tech inside, though, portends a future where commuters can wirelessly charge their smartphones, recline in Ikea-like seating pods, and make small talk with their driver while computers do all the driving. An electronic ticket system dispenses with the conventional selling and checking of tickets by the driver.
