Self-driving Buses coming soon to Switzerland

The global expansion of autonomous vehicles is spreading to Switzerland next spring with the help of a startup called BestMile, a company founded by two graduates from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Launched under the banner of Swiss bus company PostBus, the driverless vehicles will enter service in the canton of Valais.

A two-year trial has been arranged to ascertain how these vehicles will operate in real-life traffic. Similar, but smaller scale, initiatives have been seen e.g. in Finland with the National Housing Fair utilising driverless vehicles during their exhibition last summer. The buses will be able, at first, to transport nine passengers at a time around the tourist areas of Sion and are by no means meant to replace bus drivers entirely.

Although being the first trial of autonomous driving technology involving public transportation in Switzerland, it is not the only initiative in the field. For instance Google, Apple and automotive brands like Volvo and Mercedes-Benz are all heavily involved and invested in research related to autonomous driving.