Bus about Greece

AP

Trikala's new driverless buses navigate through the city in designated bus lanes.

A mountain town in northern Greece is taking a page from Silicon Valley's book: Trikala has a new driverless bus buzzing around its downtown. It may only go a cool 12 mph—about as quickly as a golf cart—but the test route is a big jump for the mass transportation revolution in Europe. With the design of a pint-sized Disneyland tram, the bus recently started facing real road conditions and so far has successfully avoided pedestrians, impatient drivers, and bicyclists.

Guided by GPS, the driverless bus is French company CityMobil2's attempt to reduce the carbon emissions of EU public transportation. Trikala, a city of just 80, 000, will eventually have six of these battery-powered buses to make the 1.5-mile route in lanes created specifically for the test.

For now, the bus is free to ride and seats 10 as the road tests continue through February 2016. If you’re wary of a robot bus, the vehicle’s creators note that though the buses are completely automated with navigation and obstacle detection systems, a driver back in the control room watches each ride. There may be no hands on the wheel, but at least there’s an extra set of eyes.

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