As driverless cars continue to undergo testing on the streets, one company is applying the technology to public transportation. Swiss startup BestMile has developed a system to control fleets of autonomous vehicles, which the company compares to the functionality of an airport control tower. The company acquired its first commercial contract by teaming up with PostBus (known as CarPostal to the Swiss French), a major bus operator in Switzerland and France.
BestMile was founded in January 2014 by two graduates from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Since then, the new company and the research university have been working together to develop algorithms for autonomous public transportation. These buses will face traffic, pedestrians, and other obstacles and must deal with them in a safe and efficient manner. The autonomous system must be reliable, flexible, and able to function alongside existing transport systems. BestMile’s software will allow the operators of these vehicles to be able to monitor, control, and optimize their fleet remotely in real time as needed.
BestMile cofounder Anne Koymans cites a leading developer of autonomous vehicles as an influence that led to the company’s first commercial project. “There is a lot of interest for driverless mobility solutions, partly thanks to Google,” Koymans said in an interview with The Local. “Cities are interested but also public transport operators and the interest is increasing.”
Koymans points out that while Google aims to put more driverless cars on the road, BestMile is focusing purely on public transportation. There will also be development in what she calls “the last mile,” meaning the leg of a user’s journey between their stop and destination.
BestMile has been seeking funding to improve its developing technology. Previous successful projects include CityMobil2, a pilot platform for automated road transport systems.
French manufacturer Navya is designing and developing the 100% autonomous driverless and electric ARMA buses that will be provided to CarPostal/BestMile. Two existing shuttles have already been sold to CarPostal.
Autonomous buses carrying up to nine passengers will be introduced to the city of Sion, Valais in spring 2016, and will undergo two years of testing.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.