Australia starts testing autonomous buses in Perth

Australia’s first driverless and electric shuttle bus plied on road on Wednesday in a trial run in Perth. The trial involved the ‘RAC Intellibus’ travelling along the South Perth Esplanade, carrying passengers, interacting with traffic, parked cars, cyclists and pedestrians, Xinhua news agency reported. “We anticipate this first step in exploring how driverless technology will start a conversation on further trials, research and collaboration, which in turn will increase Western Australia’s understanding of how driverless vehicles can integrate into our transport system,” Terry Agnew, RAC group chief executive, said. Agnew said he was hopeful that driverless vehicles would become an integrated part of the transport system. Driverless trucks are already used by mining companies such as Rio Tinto while driverless cars are being developed by many companies but are yet to be used among traffic. IANS