As technology companies and automakers race to put a driverless car on the road, they might want to take a look at a small experiment being conducted in the Netherlands. WEpods, an abbreviation of Wageningen and Ede, two towns in the south-central province of Gelderland, will soon play host to a driverless bus system, ferrying dignitaries and visitors to a local university via six-passenger vehicles that look a bit like enclosed, oversized golf carts. Unlike similar autonomous transport systems currently in use, such as the Rotterdam Rivium bus or Heathrow airport shuttles, these electrically powered vehicles won’t run on dedicated tracks, instead rolling on the same roadways used by human drivers.
“It’s very strange to trust a robot to drive you from one place to another,” says project manager Alwin Bakker.
Read the rest of this post on the original site »
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Contributions are a key part of the future of Vox
Readers rely on Vox for clear, nuanced coverage that not only illuminates the issues, but poses solutions, too. And we rely on help from our readers: Advertising and grants cover the majority of our costs, but we count on contributions to help us close the gaps in our budget. In fact, we’re looking to reach 95,000 individual contributions before the end of the year. Will you make the next contribution right now? Our average gift is just $20 — and it goes a long way in helping us keep our work free. Vox is here to help everyone understand what’s shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. Join that mission by making a contribution today.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63708833/bus.0.1462600247.0.jpg)
