Autonomous driving systems are not something new, and now the technology has reached a point where it can be tested for public transport. The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus is the first autonomous city bus that has been put to test in real life situation, and it just completed a 20km journey without the steering, accelerating and without brake pedal in Amsterdam.

The Future Bus has a top speed of 70 km/h on open roads. During its premiere it was able to recognise and avoid obstacles and pedestrians on the road, approach bus stops precisely, open and close its doors, move off automatically and communicate with traffic light systems, all without the intervention from the driver on board, whose primary duty was to ensure the safety.

The Future Bus is controlled by the CityPilot system and modified from the Highway Pilot in the autonomous Mercedes-Benz Actros truck launched two years ago. The system is supported by various cameras on the bus, long and short-range radars and GPS for monitoring the road situation. It can also communicate with traffic lights and negotiate junctions controlled by them.

Fully integrating Future Bus into the public transport system will require special bus lanes and there is no solid plan for its production. Daimler does intend to migrate some of its features to produce semi-automated buses for improving efficiency and safety while relieving drivers’ workload.