Self-driving bus on the streets of Malaga, Spain

A self-driving bus has started roaming the streets of Malaga, in southern Spain, a project billed as the first of its kind in Europe.

This bus was put into service on Saturday, and it is fully electric, equipped with sensors and cameras, and operates six trips a day, each of eight kilometers, between the port and the center of the Andalusian city.

“The bus knows at all times its location and its surroundings,” said Raphael Durban Carmona, director of the southern department of the “Avanza” company that manages the consortium in charge of the project.

He added to Agence France-Presse that one of its most prominent characteristics is its ability to “interact with traffic lights,” which is also equipped with sensors that indicate when it turns red.

The bus also has an artificial intelligence system that enables it to improve its “decisions” based on data recorded along its route.

This vehicle, designed by the Spanish company “Erezar”, resembles any traditional city bus. It is 12 meters long and can carry 60 passengers.

In Europe, there are a number of other experimental projects for autonomous vehicles, as in France or Estonia, for example, but they are not related to traditional-sized city buses that run on streets open to other vehicles.

And because Spanish law does not allow an autonomous vehicle to operate, the driver sits in his usual place, but does not touch the steering wheel or the pedals, except in exceptional cases to correct the course slightly, when approaching a roundabout, for example.

And if a problem arises, the driver can take over at any time.

The project is outside the European scope

“Everything is normal, so that one would think that the driver is the one driving … I am comfortable and feel safe, otherwise I would not have ridden in the bus, especially since I came with my grandson,” said Marta, who was on the passenger counter.

This project received funding from the Spanish government, and had the cooperation of a number of universities.

Outside of Europe, Singapore began testing the commercial operation of self-driving buses at the end of January, while autonomous taxis are being tested in several Chinese cities.

In the United States, Waymo (a subsidiary of Google) is expected to test self-driving automated taxis in San Francisco, knowing that they have been in service in Arizona since 2017.

A self-driving car belonging to the company “Uber” suffered an accident in March 2018 in the United States, which resulted in casualties.

Experts consider that the most important obstacles to the complete independence of vehicles are the regulatory aspects and the public’s reluctance to accept their use due to the risks they fear in terms of safety and cybersecurity.