Geneva to test fleet of self-driving buses

According to a press statement [insert link] published by the university, the four-year project will draw on a fleet of autonomous vehicles of sizes ranging from four to 12 places, and aims gather data reflecting the economic, logistic, and social implications of a self-driving network. Run in collaboration with local authorities and the Geneva public transport services (TPG), the trial hopes to collect information around three major axes: "autonomous driving" (the security and adaptability of vehicles), "optimization of itineraries" (the user experience), and "in- and out-of-vehicle services" (catering to reduced mobility passengers, for example). It will be conducted in suburban areas less frequently or conveniently serviced by existing routes. "Autonomous vehicles will not go downtown," said Denis Berdoz, CEO of TPG. Geneva, Switzerland's second-largest city, is particularly suited to such a trial because of the complex traffic situations it offers (a combination of jams, pedestrianized zones and bicycle lanes), as well as the well-mapped and GPS-ready nature of the region. The project has a budget of some €22 million (CHF26.28 million), €16 million of which are funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research financing mechanism. The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.