Self-driving buses hit Montreal streets for first time as part of pilot project!
04 Jul 2019
The rides are free and carry passengers between the Olympic Stadium and Maisonneuve Market
There is a bus tooling around Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve these days that looks a little different from the rest. It's tiny, red and it runs without a driver.
The self-driving shuttle buses are part of a pilot project in Montreal, transporting people from the Olympic Stadium to the Maisonneuve Market.
"I trust that vehicle more than a person who's texting on their phone," said Kristin Buchholz, project manager at EasyMile, the company that manufactures the self-driving buses. "I know that vehicle is going to stop for me."
The bus is equipped with sensors and a navigational system, and runs at a maximum speed of 15 km/h.
The doors open by themselves at every planned stop, and bells sound automatically whenever it drives through an intersection, warning others of its presence.
This is the first time a self-driving vehicle has been authorized to use public roads in Montreal. Part of the pilot project will examine how the bus shares city streets with other drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.
The project builds on last year's experiment with the same bus, which drove people around the grounds of the Olympic Stadium.
But with the technology still in its infancy, it was decided to have an operator on board at all times.
