To solve the isolation problem caused by the railroad tracks in Columbus, South Linden USA. An autonomous bus arrived to reconnect it with the rest of Ohio City. This government-funded electric shuttle will allow residents of the neighborhood to have access to services that had been missing in the area.
The project is called Linden LEAP and, it gives a breath of hope to other cities that are also contemplating this measure. Today, South Linden is making history, as it became home to the first autonomous residential daily public autonomous bus in the US.
All about the autonomous bus that is already on the road
For seven days a week for the next 12 months, residents of this neighborhood will be able to travel a 5-kilometer route for free on tall, colorful buses. They are more like a fusion between a bus and a van.
This autonomous bus was born as an experiment of the Smart Cities Challenge, a program created by former President Barack Obama during his term in office. Aiming to encourage medium-sized cities to develop advanced means of transportation, new and autonomous cars.
But the city is also building small sites with payment systems that allow users to plan their trips and combine them with multiple means of transportation. For example, electric scooters, bicycles, Uber, Lyft and of course, the autonomous bus system making headlines.
On the city’s page called “Smart Columbus” they comment that:
“Columbus was chosen to model how new technologies work in a real city, with real people, solving real problems. Running tests will be our new way of coping with difficulties.”
The challenge going forward is that the city is growing rapidly. Therefore, transportation options must be increased and that is what they intend to do with this autonomous bus pilot plan.
And the idea of this city is to be a reference in terms of alternative transportation, since this could be the best solution to a real problem such as pollution, high accident rate and environmental care. Creating smart cities could be the key.
You can also read: Spain leads the ranking of countries with more SmartCities
