Estonia, Good for Business, Innovations, Technology, Tourism, Transport

Andrei Novikov, deputy mayor of Tallinn, said that the city's transport department along with the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) has launched a robot bus, or driverless bus, project in the framework of which one bus will be launched on the route A. Weizenbergi Street - Maekalda Street - Lydia Koidula Street - J. Poska Street around Kadriorg Park for a period of six months.

"This is undoubtedly a novel and innovative solution that could become a pioneer in the current modern technology era and transport system. In the context of Tallinn, we consider a driverless bus as an opportunity for public transport solutions in areas with less traffic," Novikov said.

The organization of traffic on the aforementioned route will also be altered on the basis of the route of the driverless bus.

The project researches, promotes and pilots automated driverless electric minibuses as part of the public transport chain, especially for the so-called first or last mile connectivity.

The project brings knowledge and competence on organizing environmentally friendly and smart automated public transport. It also provides guidelines on legal and organizational setup needed for running such a service in an efficient way. Sohjoa Baltic aims to bring small driverless buses to demo routes in six cities of the Baltic Sea region.