
The trains of the circular metro line will not be the only autonomous means of transport to make their debut in the Community of Madrid. The Leganés Norte neighborhood has just launched a pilot project for an automatic bus with space for 52 passengers and the capacity to travel 2.3 kilometers. As it is still in the testing phase, the city’s residents can enjoy its service free of charge until Friday, January 31.
What is the new autonomous bus of Leganés like?
According to the Leganés City Council, the bus operates without a driver thanks to high-precision sensors, which detect road conditions and the environment. It runs in the morning (from 11:00 to 14:00 hours) and afternoon (from 15:00 to 19:00 hours), and its route starts and ends at Reina Sofía Avenue, passing through Roncal and Petra Kelly streets.
Jorge Rodrigo, Transport Counselor of the Community of Madrid, explained that this type of bus “already works in countries such as Norway and Finland” and has been shown to “reduce waiting times and the probability of accidents“.
In addition, the Minister stressed the importance of promoting this type of service to improve the conditions of public transport “in rural areas, with small populations or with geographical dispersion”.
This is not the only driverless bus that has been tested in the Community of Madrid: five years ago, the campus of the Autonomous University hosted an automatic vehicle with twelve seats in order to improve connections between faculties. Before launching it, pilot projects similar to the one we see today in Leganés were carried out.