As part of European Mobility Week, Dublin will host a pilot programme for an autonomous bus service running on 21 and 22 September.

Dublin’s first autonomous bus service is to be trialled next month as part of an event organised by Dublin City Council (DCC).

Announced as part of its Smart Docklands project, the public trials will coincide with European Mobility Week and an event called the Future Mobility Showcase taking place on North Wall Quay on Saturday 22 September.

While much of the event is designed to showcase some of the future transport technologies – such as e-bikes, electric scooters and car-sharing – as part of smart cities, much of the focus will be on the EZ10 autonomous shuttle bus.

Capable of carrying up to 15 passengers, the bus will take people on a 1km four-stop route from the Dublin Convention Centre to 3Arena.

The public will get a chance to ride the bus for free from 2pm to 5pm on Friday 21 September as well as from 11am to 5pm the following day.

Need for sustainable transport

EasyMile, the Toulouse-based company behind the EZ10 bus, specialises in autonomous vehicle hardware and software technologies as well as last-mile smart mobility solutions.

So far, the bus has already been deployed in 20 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, North America and Europe.

Speaking of the Smart Docklands project, DCC’s chief executive, Owen Keegan, said: “With the rapid pace of technology change, there is a wide range of innovative sustainable transport opportunities.

“The traditional models of commuting will expand to incorporate a whole range of shared transport options, including the use of shared bikes, electric scooters, car clubs and new, on-demand autonomous shuttle services such as the EasyMile shuttle.”

A similar project got underway in London last year whereby members of the public were offered a chance to try the city’s own autonomous bus service, travelling along a 2km stretch of Greenwich as part of the £8m GATEway Project.