Autonomous bus project trials in Hamburg

The Hamburg Electric Autonomous Transportation (HEAT) project, which began trials in 2019 with the self-driving bus supervised by a designated driver, has now moved ahead with the second phase of trials.

During the first phase of trials HEAT was focused on data collection and analysing autonomous reactions, while in the second phase it aims to test the interaction between the vehicle and available infrastructure. Towards the end of summer 2020, passengers will be allowed to board the bus.

“HEAT is a research and development project which HOCHBAHN, one of the primary transport operators in Hamburg, plans to use a step towards the future commercial deployment of full-time autonomous buses. The HOCHBAHN project includes a number of well-known partners, including companies from the German industry. It is part of the urban strategy for intelligent transport systems (ITS) in the field of action ‘Automated and Connected Driving’.”

Matthias Kratzsch, Managing Director Technology of IAV, said: “We can now start testing the revamped and improved shuttle in HafenCity again. Over the past months, we have analysed the data from the first test phase, improved key aspects of the hardware and software and prepared the shuttle for the next test. We are confident that the shuttle will cope with much longer distances compared to last year and have no problems merging with the flow of traffic with other road users. We expect to achieve clear progress in the technological development of autonomous driving.” 

To read the article by Intelligent Transport, click here.

Picture: HOCHBAN ©