Sohjoa Baltic carried over 16K Europeans during robot bus pilots
Project brought the automated small electric shuttles for the first time to Poland in September 2019 and to Latvia in August-September 2020. The #video on project’s #Youtube channel encapsulates the insights gained during the two robot bus pilots in Zemgales Plānošanas reģions / Zemgale Planning Region.
The short term pilots, driven in closed areas in towns of Jelgava and Aizkraukle, have presented the current automated electric transport technology to passengers for a few weeks in the late summer of 2020. The pilots were greeted by thousands of curious passengers, who on the video testify they felt excited but safe onboard and trusted the technology.
As stated on the video, to run such an automated / autonomous daily service in mixed traffic would require updates to the Latvian Road Safety legislation. These changes are to be seen in the upcoming years.
Sohjoa Baltic (2017-2020) project was supported by Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme funding and arranged long term robot bus pilots in Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland) and Kongsberg (Norway). These pilots lasted from 4 to 6 months. The short term pilots in Latvia and Gdansk (Poland) lasted from 2 to 5 weeks each.
Lead by Metropolia University of Applied Sciences’ Smart Mobility innovation hub in Finland, project Sohjoa Baltic brought knowledge on autonomous public transport and the legal framework of driverless driving to eight countries and practical piloting experience to six countries in the Baltic Sea Region.
#madewithinterreg