Corentin Roudaut, who once felt overwhelmed by Paris's traffic, found renewed confidence in cycling after the establishment of a segregated bike lane on Boulevard Voltaire. He now actively participates in promoting cycling in the city, witnessing a remarkable transformation in urban mobility and safety over the last decade.
"Car-Free Earth Day is a reminder that we only have one planet-and that our streets play a critical role in our fight against climate change," said NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn in an official statement.
It's tempting to frame autonomous driving as a single leap. In public transport, adoption tends to be incremental - because the system is built for reliability, and new capabilities have to fit into daily operations without disrupting service. That is why a practical strategy is evolution, not revolution: introduce autonomy in a defined domain, learn safely in real operations, and expand capability step-by-step.
For more than a decade, autonomous buses have been "almost ready." Demonstrations with safety drivers began around 2015, and ten years later, this is still largely what we see. The reason is not a lack of ambition - it is physics, safety, and economics. Autonomous buses on city streets are inherently difficult. They carry dozens of passengers, operate as heavy vehicles, and move through a chaotic urban environment.
The vehicle supply contract was awarded to Iveco Bus shortly before Christmas. The press release does not specify the exact vehicle model ordered by LSE. However, given the reference to a Low-Entry configuration, the vehicles can reasonably be expected to belong to Iveco's Crossway LE Elec range, launched in 2023. The same model has been ordered in 200 units in Germany by the purchasing group "BusGruppe" in late 2024.
The planned order is expected to include 12-meter and 18-meter vehicles, and potentially also 24-meter bi-articulated trolleybuses. All units will be equipped with traction batteries enabling off-wire operation. The new trolleybuses are expected to cover at least 20 kilometers without overhead wires, while remaining fully compatible with Riga's extensive existing trolleybus infrastructure.
Martin Busche, in October 2025 you have been presenting several new solutions at Busworld. What exactly did you showcase? Martin Busche: What you saw in our booth is essentially our complete product range. Beyond what's displayed, we have further diversifications, but here you saw the full LFP battery pack family - a four-member family - and one of the NMC pack variants, the 6 AKM version. Our NMC family also includes a 1.80-meter 9 AKM pack and a 5 AKM pack, all featuring cylindrical-cell NMC modules.
Construction work at the Regionalbuszentrum Schaffhausen is scheduled to begin on 2 March 2026, as VBSH details on its website. Commissioning and testing are planned for mid-2027, with definitive operations starting in the third quarter of 2027. In parallel, additional overnight charging stations will be installed at the Ebnatring depot hall, with commissioning aligned to the RBZ timeline.