In March 2020, three self-driving buses began operating on the university campus, and since the autumn of 2021 they are also running in parts of Vallastaden. The buses are part of the regional development project Ride the future, in which Akademiska Hus is a partner, which aims to investigate how self-driving buses can become part of sustainable mobility solutions in the cities of the future.
10,000 passengers - an important milestone
For some time now, a major milestone in the project has been to reach 10,000 passengers. On Friday morning, February 17, it finally happened! The person who took home the title of the ten-thousandth passenger was Lakshmi Salim, she is a student at Linköping University and moved to Linköping from Dubai in August last year. She says that this is not the first time she has travelled with the self-driving buses:
"My daughter and I have travelled on the buses several times and had a positive experience each time. Today I saw the bus by chance when I just dropped my daughter off at school and chose to hop on. I had no idea that I would be the ten-thousandth passenger.
She continues:
"I'm currently studying for a master's degree in energy and environmental engineering, so I'm a little extra inspired by projects like this. I hope that in the future you will be able to see similar buses in several parts of Linköping as well.
In addition to a nice diploma, Lakshmi is also rewarded with a free monthly pass with Östgötatrafiken.
"I usually buy bus passes every month, so it's perfect that the prize is just a monthly pass," she says.
The buses roll on
In the future, the self-driving buses will continue to roll in Vallastaden and at the university. The buses take up to six passengers and run every day of the week, it is also completely free and everyone can go along! If you want to be on a first-name basis with the buses, they are named Reza, Busse and Hjulia.
More information and current operating status: https://ridethefuture.se/in-english/