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Robo-buses join the traffic in Helsinki

Autonomous electric nine-seaters get a start from the Finnish

Helsinki has taken a plunge, and let some (semi) autonomous buses out in traffic.

The EasyMile EZ10 buses, made in France, still have a human driver on board to make sure nothing goes wrong; the buses had already been tested on pedestrian-only streets nearby.

Local news outlet YLE says the current trial is taking place in the Hernesaari district.

The EZ10 buses have an average speed of around 10 km/h, according to YLE, and the trial is intended to run until mid-September. Other municipalities, including Espoo to the west of Helsinki and Tampere 160km to the north, are also slated for future trials.

The idea is to use the tiny buses as supplements to other public transport. Harri Santamala of the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences told YLE it could be “a feeder service for high-volume bus or metro traffic…. In other words the mini-bus would know when the connecting service is coming and it would get you there on time.”

EasyMile is a joint venture between French auto-maker Ligier and Indian robotics outfit Robosoft. The pair aren't newcomers to autonomous vehicles: they supply robot shuttles to European parks and claim 1.5 million passenger movements so far.

The electric buses being used in Helsinki carry nine passengers, the company says. The tests will be halted in winter, to resume in the spring of 2017.

The project has European funding and support from Aalto University, Forum Virium Helsinki, Finnish Geographical Institute and Tampere University of Technology. ®

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