A month ago, the first self-driving bus operations begun its three-month trial in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan. It is the first revenue-generating service of autonomous rapid transit (ART) project supported by the central and local governments. The goal is to launch commercial operation across the country in 2021.
“Autonomous technology will lead a revolutionary change to the city’s transportation systems,” said Huang Wei-Cher, Mayor of Tainan. “The smart transportation initiative will help us improve overall road safety, operational efficiency, and rural area transportation services.”
The service will cover two business districts. One service will run on weekends only, on a 2.5km route between Nanke Railway Station and National Museum of Prehistory, while the other will be on weekdays in the 6.4km route along Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, where a smart vehicle testing site is located.
The ART project is part of Taiwan’s two-year smart transportation development plan. It is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the National Development Council. Tainan has been tapped as the country’s first municipality to offer commercial autonomous bus services.
Source: Future IOT Read The Article
PSR Analysis: The Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) project being carried out in Tainan, southern Taiwan, is an example of extensive cooperation between traditional industry players, innovative tech companies and local and national government agencies. Although this three-month trial is starting small with limited routes, no live passengers and drivers on hand in case of emergency, the goal of implementing it by 2021 is aggressive, to say the least.
The buses will make use of multiple cameras, LIDAR, high definition maps and connected car technology. Of key importance is making use of LiLee’s mass rapid transit autonomous drive technology usually applied to rail systems. Rather than requiring these buses to navigate a maze of unexpected conditions and routes subject to last-minute change, the ART buses will be programmed to move through set routes in what amounts to a virtual rail system. This regular movement through established routes will improve the safety quotient and may help ease concerns critics have regarding the dangers of autonomous drive vehicles.
While still prohibitively expensive for personal passenger cars, it is possible to convert diesel engine-powered buses to electric autonomous drive buses for something deemed worthy of the investment. Current in-service populations of diesel and gasoline powered vehicles is always of concern when converting to alternative energy sources – this repowering of the ART buses is an elegant solution.
Although this does not achieve truly autonomous driving through unknown routes, and although we will not yet be able to use this system to nap or read while commuting in our own cars each day, the ART bus program in Tainan is an excellent and sensible example of how federal and municipal governments can work with the private sector to find new solutions to age old problems. PSR
Erik Martin is Director – Asia Region, for Power Systems Research
