Montreal’s Olympic Park might start to feel a bit like The Jetsons as two new fully automated shuttle buses have hit the road.
Marketed as “a first in Canada on open roads,” Transdev has launched two EasyMile EZ10 autonomous shuttles as a pilot project that will extend until early next month.
The buses connect Olympic Park’s metro station to the popular Maisonneuve Market, while travelling on the the regular urban roads of the east end.
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“In this project, Transdev operates EasyMile EZ10 autonomous shuttles that circulate in normal daily traffic conditions, crossing intersections equipped with intelligent traffic signals with which the shuttles communicate, thus providing useful connectivity to the inhabitants of Montreal, as it shuttles between the Olympic Park and the Maisonneuve Market,” reads the Transdev website.
Transdev
The driverless bus covers a distance of 1.4 km which takes just over six minutes rolling around at an average speed of 15 km/h.
The fully automated buses features a Transdev employee on board who welcomes passengers, provides information, and guarantees the safety of all aspects of the vehicle’s performances throughout the journey.
Both buses can fit a maximum of 12 passengers.
Transdev says they are currently testing out the futuristic buses at university campuses, parking lots, and medical centres in several countries around the world.
Besides looking like something out of the Blade Runner world, automated buses improve services by cutting out greenhouse gas emissions and labour hours.
The service is free and open to the public from Monday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm from now until August 4.
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