The city of Madrid has launched Spain’s very-first autonomous on-demand bus at Mercamadrid, the country’s largest food distribution platform.
Introduced as part of the MOBILITIES FOR EU project; the new service will aim to demonstrate how connected, automated and zero-emission mobility solutions might improve transport within complex urban environments.
The fully electric autonomous bus is operated by Alsa, and will be used to provide transport services for more than 20,000 people and 15,000 vehicles passing through Mercamadrid each day.
During peak hours, the bus follows a fixed timetable coordinated with existing public transport services, whilst later in the day passengers can request journeys on demand via a mobile application, allowing the system to optimise routes based on real-time travel requests.
The pilot seeks to combine autonomous driving, advanced sensors and 5G connectivity in order to test how automated public transport can perate safely and efficiently in a busy logistics hub.
Elsewhere, the project will evaluate user behaviour, operational performance and the potential for wider deployment in European cities.
