Autonomous bus trialed successfully in Hamburg

It will start servicing passengers in mid-2020

Hamburgs keep on further improving its smart city capabilities. Meet HEAT – otherwise known as Hamburg Electric Autonomous Transportation - Hamburg’s trial project for an autonomous public transportation system. The vehicles began their trial runs back in August with an emphasis on gathering data and establishing their accuracy in terms of localization, reactions to obstacles and the performance of the infrastructure. An attendant was always present during the test runs in case of emergencies or breakdowns. The system will enter a 2^nd testing phase in the spring of next year and local officials are hoping for the first passengers to climb on board by mid-2020. Operators believe that the system will be fully functional by 2021.

The developers of the autonomous system are very happy with the displayed results. Not only was the absence of a driver barely noticed by drivers, but the buses successfully managed to navigate through daily traffic and cyclists.

With the data that’s been gathered over the last few months, improvements will be made not only to the system but to Hamburg’s infrastructure as well. Both HEAT’s hardware and software will be upgraded before the next testing phase begins in 2020.