Driverless bus arrives
Trial run a pointer to future
A DRIVERLESS bus could pick up passengers from Cairns’ Cruise Liner Terminal and take them for a free ride along the Esplanade.
Cairns Regional Council is hosting a trial of the city’s first autonomous vehicle, an EZ10 shuttle, along the Esplanade this week.
The $320,000 vehicle, which has a top speed of about 45km/h, has the capacity to carry up to 12 people at once.
It uses state-of-the-art GPS, radar and sensor technology to navigate paths, roads and traffic.
French manufacturer EasyMile is showcasing the driverless bus in several cities across Australia, and already has the vehicles in use along Darwin’s waterfront and in Canberra.
EasyMile executive Simon Pearce said the shuttle was completely safe.
“We’ve had this running in Canberra and on each run we’ve had six people try and jump in front of the vehicle,” he said. “Each time it’s stopped. “So it’s very, very safe and we’ve really spent a lot of time with the technology.
“There has been zero accidents around the world.”
Two of the first passengers to trial the shuttle along the southern end of the Cairns Esplanade yesterday were Cairns Mayor Bob Manning and Deputy Mayor Terry James. Cr Manning appeared impressed by the autonomous bus, but said it was too early to commit to purchasing any of the vehicles for the city.
“It’s new-generation technology. It’s the way of the future, and we’re going there no doubt about it, eventually,” he said.
“But it’s still got to be measured and this is only the first one we’ve seen.”