"The trial on the historic asphalt of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, a motorsport landmark, was carried out within a simulated urban environment set up on the track. The objective was to directly assess how a public transport vehicle could operate without human intervention. Departing from a stop arranged in the paddock area of the racetrack, the vehicle opened its doors, closed them once passengers had boarded, and then set off along a predefined route."
"Operating fully autonomously and without a driver, the bus proceeded by stopping at red traffic lights, restarting when the light turned green, respecting pedestrian crossings when occupied, and observing the other stops installed along the route. The autonomous Karsan vehicle is equipped with advanced technology supplied by the US company Adastec. This includes cameras, radar, and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)."
Bologna's public transport operator Tper and Karsan completed a Level 4 autonomous bus trial at the Imola circuit, testing real-world public transport operations in a simulated urban environment. Italy lacks a regulatory framework for regular driverless bus operation on public roads, yet trials continue. The Karsan Autonomous e-Atak is the only 8-metre midibus on the market with Level 4 autonomy and has logged more than 150,000 kilometres, carried over 60,000 passengers, and reached nearly 99% operational reliability, including performance down to -25°C. The Imola test evaluated door operations, traffic-light responses, pedestrian interactions, and scheduled stops in fully autonomous mode.
Read at Sustainable Bus
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]