Driverless bus takes to the road in Perth

CHRIS GRIFFITH
September 1, 2016
The Australian
The first driverless vehicle on a public Australian road rolled out yesterday, mixing it with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians in Perth.
The 11-seater French Navya shuttle bus was bought by automotive club the RACWA for $296,000 and will spend the next three months covering a 2.7km stretch of the South Perth foreshore along the Swan River, operating at speeds of up to 25km/h.
West Australian Innovation Minister Bill Marmion said the bus had been tested off-road ­before being unleashed on to the public.
Known as the RAC Intellibus, it is driverless, without a driver’s seat, but there will be a “chaperone” aboard “in the unlikely event that an incident happens and the bus control has to be overridden”, said Anne Still of the RACWA.
“Both the chaperone and passengers will have access to two stop buttons. It will stop immediately,” Ms Still said.
The RACWA has conducted a three-phase trial. The first phase involved testing the vehicle at the RACWA driving centre in Perth while the second involved taking the bus on its new route without passengers. “Initially it was escorted and then we were able to remove the escort,” Ms Still said.
She said the bus had six Lidar sensors, four stereo vision cameras, radio and 3D connect­ions for GPS. It calculates its position not only using GPS tracking but also based on its starting point and distance travelled.
“It’s a prototype vehicle and there are very few of them in the world,’’ she said.
Anyone seven years or older can catch the bus at either end of its route, but it can’t be hailed and doesn’t make scheduled stops midway.
The service comes a day after US software firm nuTonomy ­announced the world’s first public trial of driverless taxis in Singapore, to start early next year.
The Navya shuttle in Perth will last at least three months at the current location and at least one year overall. “We will look at ­options to extend the trial beyond that,” Ms Still said.
She said the RACWA wanted to take driverless vehicles from theory to reality.
“That will enable us to learn not only about the technology but it will give Australians a chance to experience a driverless vehicle,’’ Ms Still said.
“It will help prepare Australians for the changes that are coming.’’
The shuttle was designed as a ­vehicle for the last kilometre of a journey rather than replacement for a conventional bus route.
Ms Still didn’t believe such shuttle buses would contribute to job losses. “We expect there will be new and different roles (from automation),” she said