Robobus Line

RobobusLine is a pilot project running in Kivikko in eastern Helsinki and complements the 94R line on the network of Helsinki's metropolitan public transit authority, Helsinki Region Transport (HSL). The RobobusLine is station-based with two stops on a fixed-route and is wheelchair accessible. It runs on a defined schedule and is available in the journey planner Reittiopas. The shuttle must respect a speed limit of 50 km/h (lowered to 40 km/h during the pilot), it encounters mixed and heavy traffic on public streets as well as pedestrian crossings and a roundabout.

Helsinki RobobusLine is financed by the Helsinki Innovation Fund. The pilot is also part of mySMARTLife project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The total budget for the pilot project is €315,218, plus Metropolia's share in mySMARTLife project budget.

Finland's current road traffic legislation already permits automated vehicle trials so no amendments will be required.

Among the challenges encountered so far, the speed difference between the shuttle and other vehicles has caused dangerous overtaking. Manual control of the shuttle has therefore been needed every time a vehicle overtakes it to avoid unnecessary braking and the risk of rear-end collision. On a technical level, vegetation around the road has caused unnecessary braking which has reduced travel comfort and has sometimes increased the need for intervention in the operation of the shuttle. Connection between a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) base (installed on a roof of a building next to the road) and the bus has every now and then been lost, preventing the operation of the whole route - which has in turn required a full restart. Programmed stops on an intersection have not always been respected so the shuttle had to be stopped manually as a consequence. The shuttle also once started to unnecessarily turn to the left on a more quiet part of the route.

Other random braking and full stops on the route have occasionally caused critical situations but luckily no collision or injuries have happened so far. Between mid-May 2018 and late September 2018, 1,251 passengers have been transported, with an average of 14.4 passengers per day, 2,766 km have been covered with an average distance of 35 km a day and an average operational speed of 16 km/h. Deviation from the planned route and actual driving times (missed departures) has been of 8.9 % between May 2018 and August 2018.

Associated research to the pilot include: user acceptance, energy consumption, CO2 emission saving, technological maturity, appropriate operating area and integration to the public transport research.