Finland is one of the first countries to try out the minibuses on city roads thanks to its laws allowing cars to roam without a driver. Dubai had signed a deal with the company back in April to test the EasyMile vehicles, while a Japanese mall began using them to shuttle shoppers around this month. But neither of those will likely rival the live-traffic demands of the Helsini experiment.

The buses won't be doing extensive hauls: the EZ10 model is built for short-range travel, say for ferrying folks between a metro station and bus stop, at a max speed of a little over six miles per hour. If all goes well, the vehicles will supplement but not replace existing mass transit networks. The test will run until mid-September.