The first long-range test drive on the streets of Netherlands for the Mercedes-Benz's autonomous bus was a 100% victory. The future bus successfully passed a 20km Bus route between Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and the town of Haarlem.
The dream bus is based on the newest autonomous vehicles technology it has GPS, radar, cameras built into the vehicle itself, the autonomous bus can recognize traffic signals, pedestrians and other obstacles. The bus has a top speed of 70km/h (or about 43 mph) and all that data taken together allows the bus to position itself within inches of bus stops or raised accessibility platforms.
Unlike other autonomous vehicles, the bus is actually connected to the city network so it can communicate directly with traffic lights and other city infrastructure.The camera systems can even scan the road for potholes, so buses can avoid rough patches on their next run or share that data back to the city. Although regulations still require a human operator sit behind the wheel in case of an emergency. In conclusion we can say that we are one step away from a full autonomous vehicle that will eliminate the human operator for good.
