Autonomous self-driving cars and taxis are already on the roads of San Francisco and Beijing. There are also autonomous tram-style services around Oxfordshire and Dubai.
Now researchers in the Italian city of Trento are planning to pilot a scheme of autonomous 17-seater shuttle buses which can divert to the homes of travellers. The first stage of the “robot buses” pilot is expected to cover the historic city centre, where approximately ten vehicles powered by clean hydro-electric energy will operate for up to 18 hours per day.
The pilot is expected to be initially funded by government grants to demonstrate the reliability of this type of vehicle, improving user acceptance so the service could then use private funding to grow to move beyond the city. The starting date is not yet confirmed.
