MALAGA, SPAIN, has become the first European city to have a zero-emissions autonomous bus in full high-capacity passenger-carrying operation on its streets, via local operator Avanza, Irizar reports recently.
The fully electric 12-metre-long Irizar ie bus is a pioneering project because it involves putting a standard-size vehicle on the road in a real city-traffic situation, Irizar explains.
This is an enormous step towards the transport of the future – sustainable, connected, safe and autonomous transport – where Irizar will be a key player in the transformation, it adds.
This first autonomous bus is the result of the AutoMOST Project, financed by CDTI through the CIEN programme, it confirms.
Avanza participated as an operator alongside 11 partners, which included the Irizar Group through Irizar e-mobility and Datik. The Polytechnic University of Madrid, Insia, CEIT-IK4 and the University of Vigo also participated, Irizar states.
It’s a pilot R&D project that started four years ago and finished this year, in 2021, meeting the projected deadline, it adds.
According to the company, the project’s breakthrough is its capacity to transport passengers and its interaction with vehicles, pedestrians and infrastructure under real conditions in the city of Malaga.
WINNING DESIGN
The bus uses a high-precision positioning and guidance system and will be connected to a control centre from which specific instructions can be sent to each unit and the buses can be monitored and their itineraries accessed in real time, Irizar states.
AutoMOST was recently awarded the Industrial Design Award in ITS by the Spanish chapter of the Intelligent Transport Systems Society (ITSS). AutoMOST represents the implementation of (Dual Mode) shared control systems for future automated vehicles, which enables operating services more efficiently and with more flexibility in the context of intelligent and connected infrastructure, it adds.
Photography: courtesy Irizar