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Self-driving test buses in Sweden to go faster

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Self-driving test buses in Sweden to go faster
Photo: Marko Säävälä/TT

Testing of self-driving buses in Stockholm is set to be expanded.

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The driverless vehicles, which are being tested in the Kista tech and business district, will drive at speeds of 20 kilometres per hour, reports SVT.

Previous high speeds for the tests were restricted to 12 kilometres per hour.

Since January, two electric self-driving buses have plied a one-and-a-half kilometre stretch of road between the Kista Galleria shopping mall and the Scandic Victoria Tower hotel. That number will be increased in the summer, according to SVT's report.

A designated driver has been on board the buses during the test operation in case of emergency, as is required under current legislation in Sweden.

“We have tested at a difficult time of year with a lot of snow and it has exceeded expectations,” Peter Hafmar, CEO of operating company Nobina Technology, said to SVT.

Surveys conducted by researchers from Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology have shown passenger responses to the driverless buses to be mostly positive, according to the broadcaster’s report.

A fatal accident earlier this month involving a self-driving Uber vehicle in Arizona, United States is not reported to have had a negative affected on responses.

A further trial of the buses is also expected to be rolled out in Gothenburg in the near future.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Sweden's first driverless buses hit the streets

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