The world’s biggest bus manufacturer, Daimler Buses has systematically extended their technological leadership by getting to ties with Mercedes-Benz and producing the world’s first autonomous city bus. The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus was first driven on a route of approximately 20 kms in Amsterdam.
The bus made use of Mercedes’ latest autonomous driving system, CityPilot. It is similar to HighwayPilot. The former enables buses to drive partially autonomously in specially marked bus lanes up to 43 mph. All this is essentially monitored by a human driver for safety.
Other functions of Future Bus:
It not only drives itself in special lanes but also arrives at bus stops and passes through tunnels while communicating with traffic signals efficiently. It also shows how Mercedes envisions a more comfortable, tech-heavy public transit of the future. The ‘lounge’ portion of the bus allows passengers to wirelessly charge their smartphones too.
The German automaker doesn’t intend to send Future Bus’ system into production into its complete form; instead, it will only implement portions of the system.
