USA: A performance specification has been developed by the Automated Bus Consortium, which was formed to bring together transport agencies to facilitate collaborative decision-making, undertake collective pilot projects in various live service environments and combine their purchasing power.
The specification combines the American Public Transportation Association’s white book for standard bus specification with automated driving system requirements developed by consultancy AECOM. It was prepared with input from the consortium’s Bus Specification Technical Committee, as well as one-on-one meetings with interested suppliers.
The specification phases in required automated bus capabilities over three stages, with each stage providing a higher level of automation through software updates over a two-year period.
The current schedule calls for an early 2021 RFP release to candidate bus manufacturers.
