Whether in the tranquil town of Bad Birnbach or in Berlin, in Sion (Sion, Switzerland) or in Singapore: more than 100 so-called robo shuttle buses are already in test operation worldwide. Autonomous, electric and successful.
But for whom are these driverless shuttle buses actually suitable: are they the silent alternative for the last mile of public transport in the city? Or the rural population can use it to cover the last distance between station and house and yard without a driver.
Both would be a blessing for the upcoming mobility challenges. And that’s exactly why these Robo-Shuttles are so exciting to watch. In the cities and the countryside.

Deutsche Bahn was the first in Germany to start with its DB subsidiary DB Regio Bus Ostbayern. In September 2017, in the tranquil Bavarian health resort of Bad Birnbach, a Robo-Shuttle was launched in the first autonomous scheduled service.

Together with the district of Rottal-Inn, the vehicle developer EasyMile, TÜV Süd and the market town of Bad Birnbach, a 700-metre long test track was started on public transport between the railway station and the thermal spa. In 2018, the bus will also connect the town centre with the railway station. For safety reasons, the maximum speed is reduced to 15 km/h. The electric bus with 6 seats drives quietly and environmentally friendly through the health resort, has no driver and no steering wheel or accelerator pedal.

A beacon project for the district administrator

“For the district of Rottal-Inn, the autonomous bus is a beacon project from which a real signal effect can emanate,” says District Administrator Michael Fahmüller. “Especially in rural areas, many people are still dependent on cars. From now on, the autonomous bus will regularly transport people in Bad Birnbach, which is a clear sign of the mobility and flexibility of local public transport in the future, especially in rural areas”.

In Berlin the Robo-Shuttle is in test use for BVG

But what possibilities can self-propelled minibuses offer for future local transport in a metropolis? The first operations at trade fairs (the’Olli’ from Local Motors made its debut already in 2017 at the CES in Las Vegas) or marked out airport grounds (Christchurch) were successfully completed by the driverless Robo-Shuttles. The vehicles were mostly enthusiastically received by local users.

But what about safety in more difficult terrain, such as the Ile de France in Paris or on a busy circuit on Las Vegas Boulevard in the players’ paradise? One would like to follow up these questions with tests, so also for a few days in Berlin.

The project “Stimulate” is concerned with the use of electrically powered minibuses at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The partners BVG, Charité and the State of Berlin have started the pilot project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety.

Two Charité locations are particularly suitable, as they have a sufficiently large test area of 270,000 and 138,000 square meters, respectively, and are separated from public roads. With their pavements, crossroads and road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks and buses, they almost completely depict Berlin’s everyday traffic. In addition, all ambulances and ambulances travelling with flashing lights have priority on the hospital grounds.

For the pilot operation that has now begun, there is an approximately 1.2 kilometer long line with nine stops on the Charité Mitte campus. There are two routes on the Virchow-Klinikum campus, one with a length of about 0.8 kilometers and eight stops, one with about 1.5 kilometers and nine stops. All routes are ring lines, so they have no start and end stops. On the way are the small high-tech buses of the manufacturers Navya and EasyMile from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.

Each of the vehicles used can carry between eleven and 15 people and cover distances of up to 45 km/h safely, but the maximum speed within the scope of the project is 20 km/h. We will report the first test results in the next few months.

Here again a list of different Robo-Shuttles currently tested:

Sion (Switzerland) – BestMile/Navya Shuttle – two routes with approx. 3.6 kilometres through the old town (in operation since 2016)
Bad Birnbach – Deutsche Bahn/Ligier EZ10 – public transport between railway station and thermal spa/city centre
Berlin – BVG/Navya/EasyMile – Charité Locations
Singapore – nuTonomy – One-North University Quarter
Hong Kong – Test track in West Kowloon Cultural District
Christchurch (NZ) – Test track on the airport grounds
Sydney – Robo-Shuttle at the Olympic Park for the employees there
Curtin University Perth Western Australia – Test track on university campus
Paris – 3 different test tracks on the Ile de France
Las Vegas – Las Vegas Boulevard

Pictures/Images: BVG/Charité, German Railways, Navya, Local Motors