Dive Brief:
- The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority of Austin, Texas, conducted a demonstration in May of the first automated 40-foot electric transit bus in North America.
- The retrofitted bus successfully maneuvered through the authority’s North Operations and Maintenance Facility, reacting appropriately to unexpected obstacles, according to engineering services company WSP.
- WSP conducted the demonstration to evaluate the operational benefits of autonomous buses, such as more effective use of bus yard capacity.
Dive Insight:
Automated bus depot operations could help cut costs for zero-emission fleets, WSP said. CapMetro had planned to fully electrify its transit bus fleet by 2035, but it has encountered setbacks including the bankruptcy of one of its bus suppliers, reliability and range issues and charging capacity at its main bus depot.
Automated bus depot operations could help cut costs for zero-emission fleets, WSP said. The technology could increase existing bus yard capacity up to 90% while also improving safety for drivers, mechanics and other workers, according to a WSP news release.
The demonstration bus meets SAE Level 4 driving automation standards, which do not require a human driver but are limited to specific service areas. During the demonstration, the bus had to park with great precision.
“The most complex maneuver sent the autonomous bus to drive and park underneath an overhead pantograph charging dispenser – within just five to seven centimeters of accuracy – and initiate a charging session, all without anyone behind the steering wheel,” Severin Skolrud, vice president, critical and emerging technology, national transit and rail at WSP in the U.S., said in a statement.
Possible next steps for the CapMetro program include adding three battery-electric buses to the system on a multiyear deployment, according to WSP. New automated dispatch software could remotely start and precondition the buses and send them to a designated area where operators could perform their pre-trip inspections.
Similar projects and studies are underway in Europe. One project in Sweden with software engineering firm Unikie and Nordic public transportation company Nobina will look into the impacts of automated bus depots on work organization and safety routines. Volvo Buses also is developing and testing autonomous technology; it says it sees bus depots as providing the most initial potential for automation.
