Mobility of the future
The self-driving shuttle as a valuable lesson
02.09.2020
The autonomous MyShuttle minibus, which Mobility operates together with its partners in Zug, has done its job: The pilot project ended at the end of 2019. The results were mixed. Autonomous driving certainly has a bright future ahead of it, but it also has major hurdles to overcome in urban transport.
The road to putting the MyShuttle on the streets of Zug was a bumpy one. Although the pilot project made rapid progress after its launch in 2017, it was soon slowed down by a change of supplier, the time required to obtain permits and technological challenges. But the big moment came in January 2019: The self-driving bus travelled between Metalli and Zug railway station in day-to-day traffic – first to map its surroundings, then with test subjects on board and then for a limited period of time to be used by the public in the autumn.
«“We wanted to deliberately stretch the limits of possibility.”»
Mobility project manager Adrian Boller is delighted that the most important objective has been achieved: “We have succeeded in integrating a self-driving vehicle into the everyday traffic of a city. This is a first for Switzerland.” Cars, traffic lights, lanes, intersections and cyclists were just some of the factors that made the undertaking so challenging. Needless to say, security drivers were on board who could manually intervene if necessary. “We want to deliberately stretch the limits of possibility,” explains Boller. “This has allowed Mobility to gather valuable experience for the future. We now know what it takes to operate self-driving cars, get them through the regulatory process and advance them technologically.”
Sensors and networking as the sticking points
In some respects, however, the limits of what was feasible were reached more quickly than the project partners (SBB, Mobility, ZVB, Zug Technology Cluster and the City of Zug) wanted. For example, the shuttle’s sensor technology in particular entailed major challenges. You have to bear in mind that every movement on and near the road is registered – even falling snowflakes. “In the blink of an eye, the software then has to categorise what it sees and decide how to respond,” says Boller. For example, whether the vehicle should only slow down slightly or stop completely,” says Boller. As the technology in question is still at an early stage of development, the shuttle rarely reached the desired, stable speed. It is equally essential for infrastructure such as traffic lights to be developed in such a way that they can communicate with vehicles in the future. “Only then will it be possible to forge ahead with self-driving services in urban areas.”