Minnesota Seeking to Bring Driverless Buses to State Through 'Minnesota Autonomous Bus Pilot' Project

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Minnesota is looking to bring driverless buses to the state, through a new project called the ‘Minnesota Autonomous Bus Pilot,’ which will consist of two phases.

The first phase, which will be funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MnDOT) research fund, is the planning phase, which will cost an estimated $355,000.

The second phase will consist of the actual testing of the buses. Right now there is no estimated cost for that phase, and the state is still looking for a partner to provide the buses, but the hope is that testing of these vehicles can commence sometime next year.

According to state traffic engineer at MnDOT Jay Hietpas, the motivation behind this project is keeping up with the times.

“That’s kind of how we started working on this project, is to get ready for the future,” Hietpas says through KSTP.

Through the project, Hietpas hopes that Minnesotans will have some input into the development of these autonomous vehicles, to make sure that they are safe for operation in a state accustomed to harsh weather conditions.

“We want to make sure that those technologies are ready to work inside of our environment so when they are ready to roll out, they will be able to come here to Minnesota,” Hietpas adds.

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