A plan by the Flemish public transport company De Lijn's for a pilot scheme that would see the use of driverless buses in the Flemish Brabant city of Leuven is running behind schedule. That’s according to an answer given by the Flemish Transport Minister Annick De Ridder(nationalist) in response to a question by the Chistian democrat member of the Flemish parliament An Christiaens.
Given that the tendering procedure for a contract to provide the vehicles for the pilot project has been suspended it seems unlikely that the aim of having it up and running some time next year will be achieved.
De Lijn has been planning to deploy driverless vehicles for some time. Last year, the Flemish public transport company announced that it intended to launch a pilot project with driverless bus in Leuven. The aim was to have one route operational line in 2026.
However, it appears that the project is not going quite according to plan. Recent developments show that the technology is still very much in its infancy and that major challenges still have to be overcome. “The initial response from suppliers did not quite meet expectations from both an administrative and a legal point of view. However, there are now some powerful new players that are entering the European market’, Ms Christiaens explains.
Leuven to remain the test city
The tender procedure for the framework contract has been suspended. This makes the timing of the launch of the pilot project uncertain. What is certain though is that Leuven will remain the test city.
De Lijn was also planning to run autonomous electric buses (photo above) at Brussels Airport in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant). However, these plans were abandoned.