Once automated buses are legally standardised and commercially available, they will be able to operate in locations that are currently only served by privately owned vehicles. However, most relevant issues have not yet been fully resolved. The many unanswered questions hinder public administrations from planning for and successfully integrating automated buses into the transportation system.
Recent research and demonstrations have shown that driverless vehicles can operate safely in the majority of common road scenarios worldwide. These developments have encouraged further investment from industry and public administrations to increase the availability of automated driving technologies. Public transportation stands to benefit significantly from the introduction of intelligent vehicles, which can improve safety in urban areas, reduce the cost of last-mile transportation, decrease congestion, and improve global service for the user.
The Sohjoa Baltic European Legal Implementation Roadmap provides an overview of the legal challenges that arise when implementing automated buses as part of public transport. It was prepared by IKEM in Germany, with the input of project partners from Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Latvia, Poland, Sweden and Norway.
Find the PDF publication from IKEMs webpage, direct link to the material below:
https://www.ikem.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190401_Sohjoa_Legal_Report.pdf