- Title: Baltic cities test out driverless buses in bid to cut car traffic
- Date: 6th September 2019
- Summary: TALLINN, ESTONIA (SEPTEMBER 5, 2019) (REUTERS) DRIVERLESS BUS BEING TRIALLED BY TALLINN WAITING AT BUS STOP SIGN READING (English): "ATTENTION! THIS IS A SELF-DRIVING BUS" (SOUNDBITE) (English) TALLINN TRANSPORT PROJECT MANAGER, JAAGUP AINSALU, SAYING: "This kind of self-driving technology is changing this kind of movements or public transport quite massive. So, for this project we get very good knowledge how and what we have to do with this kind of buses coming and we have some plans to extend this kind of projects. We see that one possibility is that in 2020 we have a chance to get six buses for this kind of technology." PASSENGERS BOARDING BUS BUS DRIVING OFF ON ROAD BUS CONDUCTOR FROM TALLINN UNIVERSITY JOHANNA KRISTINA VAAT TALKING TO PASSENGERS VAAT'S HAND HOLDING ADAPTED GAMES CONSOLE CONTROLLER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BUS CONDUCTOR FROM TALLINN UNIVERSITY, JOHANNA KRISTINA VAAT, SAYING: "For example, here in Tallinn we have a tram station on one point and art museum in eight hundred meters, so last miles or kilometres it's really important for the people if they don't want to walk. Also we need less cars in traffic. We don't like traffic jams, so maybe it can help for that, as well." PEOPLE WATCHING FROM OUTSIDE BUS AS DOORS CLOSE VIEW FROM WINDOW OF BUS WHILE DRIVING ON ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) BUS CONDUCTOR FROM TALLINN UNIVERSITY, JOHANNA KRISTINA VAAT, SAYING: "The other thing why we are piloting this kind of buses, or why we are doing these projects (is) to understand how the drivers, or how the pedestrians or people are reacting. And we really need a feedback from the people so that's the main thing we are doing at the moment." BUS ARRIVING AT STOPS, PASSENGERS ENTERING BUS PASSENGERS INCLUDING 28-YEAR-OLD VISITOR FROM NETHERLANDS JESSE VAN RIJT SITTING IN BUS WHILE IT IS DRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 28-YEAR-OLD VISITOR FROM NETHERLANDS, JESSE VAN RIJT, SAYING: "It was my first ride in the driverless bus. I didn't was afraid of any things that could happen because it is a good bus." COUPLE LOOKING OUT OF WINDOW AS BUS DRIVES BUS DRIVING AWAY DOWN ROAD
- Embargoed: 20th September 2019 15:09
- Keywords: driverless buses autonomous vehicles Tallinn Gdansk public transport pilot projects
- Location: TALLINN, ESTONIA / GDANSK, POLAND
- City: TALLINN, ESTONIA / GDANSK, POLAND
- Country: Various
- Topics: Information Technologies / Computer Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA001AVITAGP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cities around the Baltic Sea are testing driverless buses to see whether they can be used in public transport and help to ease traffic congestion in a Europe-wide project.
In the Estonian capital Tallinn, a driverless bus has been ferrying passengers along an 800-metre (0.5 miles) route between a tram stop and a nearby art gallery for the past week.
On Friday (September 6), the northern Polish city of Gdansk began its own trial of a driverless bus carrying visitors to the city's zoo.
While Tallinn's bus is driverless, Tallinn University researcher Johanna Kristina Vaat is on board to monitor the number of passengers and to tell the bus when to move onto the next stop.
The bus operates on the so-called "last mile or kilometre" - or the gap between where the public transport system ends and a passenger's final destination - and could help to reduce the number of cars on the roads, Vaat said.
As well as seeing how the bus copes with carrying passengers, Vaat said the project also wants to find out people's reactions to the bus.
Passenger Jesse van Rijt from the Netherlands said it was his first time riding in a driverless bus, but he had no concerns. "It's a good bus" he said.
Jaagup Ainsalu, a project manager at Tallinn's public transport authority, said he could foresee the trial expanding to see six driverless buses on the city's streets.
As well as Tallinn and Gdansk, the other cities taking part in the EU-funded Sohjoa Baltic project are Helsinki, Kongsberg in Norway, and Vejle in Denmark. Latvia's Zemgale region will also run its own trial.
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