Team Blitz India
QEEENSFERRY: The UK will roll out its first driverless bus network in Scotland next week with drivers on standby behind the steering wheel, ready to take control should an emergency arise, reported a prominent news agency.
The service, which aims to carry 10,000 passengers a week over a 14-mile (22.5-kilometre) route on five single-deck buses, will be the world’s first automated local bus service, its operator said.
“The autonomous technology on this bus has been tested before but this is the first time that it has been put on to a bus that’s now a registered local bus service,” Peter Stevens, policy director of Stagecoach bus service, told news agency AFP after a demonstration near Edinburgh.
From May 15, the buses, which will travel at up to 50 miles per hour, will have a safety driver to monitor the technology, as required by UK law, which does not yet permit fully autonomous vehicles.
Drivers do not touch the controls while the vehicle is in autonomous mode, and a conductor onboard handles ticketing and passenger enquiries.
