Suitable for company premises, car-free zones or remote regions: the self-driving Postbus.

Self-driving Postbus

Safe and smart on the streets of Sion

Autonomous vehicles are no longer just a vision of the future: driverless Postbuses can be seen on the streets of Sion as part of a pilot project. An eye-catcher certainly – but there’s a lot more to it than that.

Picture it: you’re sitting in a self-driving Postbus – with no steering wheel or accelerator. And the bus takes you safely to your destination, as if guided by an invisible hand. Sounds like science fiction. But in Sion, self-driving Postbuses are no longer a fantasy, they’re a reality. Since June 2016, the small electric buses with eleven seats have been operating in the old town as part of a pilot project. They let people cross at pedestrian crossings, negotiate roundabouts skilfully and stop at bus stops to let passengers on and off. Passengers can use an app to find out the current location of the buses in real time.

Roman Cueni, Head of Mobility Solutions at PostBus, says: “Passenger safety must be guaranteed at all times, so each self-driving bus is accompanied by specialized staff who can intervene immediately at critical moments.” In addition to guaranteeing safety, PostBus also maintains the vehicles and ensures that they run smoothly.

The pilot project in Sion is not just about playing around with futuristic ideas, emphasizes Roman Cueni: “One of our main long-term aims in testing the buses is to offer access to remote regions of Switzerland that are not currently linked to the public transport network.” In future, they could also be used on company premises or in car-free zones.