The introduction of the self-driving bus in Groningen still has a long way to go.
The presentation, set up by the province of Groningen in collaboration with transport company Qbuzz and technology company robotTUNER, was intended to show that autonomous transport on a large scale is coming a step closer. However, the initial reactions from passengers who took a demonstration ride were predominantly critical. One of the passengers said afterwards: “You can use this bus on a test site or the depot, but don't use it in the city.” This statement summarizes the scepticism of many about the feasibility of the technology as it is now presented.
The 12-meter long bus is equipped with an autonomous toolkit that uses open-source software to navigate and interpret traffic situations independently. This means that the software is publicly available and that anyone can, in principle, contribute to its development and improvement. The innovative aspect of this is clear, but whether the technology is ready to function reliably and safely in a busy city like Groningen remains the question.
far from
During the ride, the technology proved to be far from flawless. The bus was set to a pre-planned route, but manual intervention was still required on a regular basis. The system seemed to have difficulty with the necessary steering corrections, especially in bends; for example, a bend in the route was taken too sharply, which was visible in the live images that the NOS Journaal showed. These kinds of glitches, as both developers and spectators acknowledge, give cause for concern about the reliability of the bus in a real traffic situation.
Groningen has a first with this bus: it is the first province in the Netherlands to use an existing bus with self-driving functionality, at least in a test context. The bus was previously demonstrated at the Innotrans trade fair in Berlin at the end of September, where it drove autonomously in a controlled environment. In that setting, the system apparently worked properly, but during the demonstration in Groningen it became clear that there is a big difference between driving in a closed environment or driving with passengers who also assess the driving comfort.
not unique
The problems that occurred are not unique to Groningen. In Eindhoven, Hermes previously experimented with Phileas, a similar system on the route between the central station and the airport. These self-driving buses drove on their own bus lane and were therefore protected from unexpected obstacles, but even there the project was ultimately not continued on a large scale. Promising at the start, it quietly disappeared from the streets. The Phileas did not meet expectations. On 25 November 2014, exactly 10 years after its introduction, the builder of the Phileas, Advanced Public Transport Systems (APTS) in Helmond, was declared bankrupt
The question remains why this technology is so difficult to develop. There seems to be a pattern emerging in which self-driving vehicles function well in theory or under specific test conditions, but in practice encounter technical and logistical limitations. Research shows that self-driving technology is very sensitive to variables in the environment. Unexpected obstacles, complex traffic situations and unpredictable behaviour of other road users are challenges that are difficult to program. This means that an autonomous bus must not only be able to 'see' what is happening on the road, but also anticipate what could happen. So far, this ability appears to be limited, which undermines safety and reliability.
optimism
Despite passenger skepticism and technical hiccups, the province of Groningen sounds optimistic about the future of the project. The ultimate goal is to have the bus on the road in 2026, and it is hoped that the coming years can be used to further refine the technology. However, this seems an ambitious goal, given the current state of the technology and the fact that previous projects in other cities have not achieved the intended success.
The self-driving bus in Groningen currently seems to be a technological showcase, a glimpse into what could be possible in the distant future. For now, however, it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done before this bus can drive safely and efficiently through the city. Until then, the question remains whether we in the Netherlands are really ready for this revolutionary form of public transport.
