Kolumbus is launching Self-driving buses Pilot in Stavanger Norway
Kolumbus, public transit operator in Rogaland (Norway) in partnership with Vy, is launching a 8.3 meters long self-driving bus with space for 50 passengers and a range of 300 kilometers in Stavanger’s downtown district for a two-year test from April 2022. The bus is eight meters long and has 21 seats with standing space for many more. The buses will be first tested at Forus Business Park before the full-scale test begins on the city streets.
Many public transit companies are exploring options to induct self-driving buses to improve efficiency and improve people’s travel opportunities especially in urban areas. However, most of the pilots were done with small size vehicles to create new bus lines with shorter routes to and from transit hubs. For example, Norwegian cities – Trondheim and Kongsberg have trialed with smaller vehicles in relatively quiet areas There are very agencies which have launched pilot with full size autonomous buses.
The project aims to establish whether the use of self-driving buses are a good addition to the urban mobility model. In the long-term, the safety driver will be moved from the bus to an operations center and take responsibility for several buses at the same time.
The key stakeholders of the project are:
Bus Manufacturer: Karsan in collaboration with BMW
Control center technology: Applied Autonomy