First test with self-driving bus on Dutch roads

On Monday German vehicle manufacturer Daimler AG performed the first test with its self-driving bus on a public road on the bus lane between Schiphol and Haarlem, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment announced. The road was largely closed to other traffic during the experiment, though the bus did interact with other traffic at certain points, such as intersections. For the experiment the bus lane was equipped with 19 systems on the side of the road. These systems enabled the bus to interact and gather information from traffic lights, among other things. The traffic lights communicated with the bus and new it was approaching from a few hundred meters away. The lights give the bus priority, to prevent it having to brake suddenly. The bus drove at speeds of between 50 and 70 kilometers per hour. A driver was in the bus in case intervention was necessary.