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With a new magnetic guidance system developed by engineers at UC Berkeley, bus drivers may become a thing of the past, and uh, I don’t think any of us would be too upset about that. The culmination of a 20-year research project by the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) and $320,000 of funding from Caltrans produced the first magnetic bus Friday, Sept. 5.
Apparently, the bus uses sensors mounted underneath it to detect magnets embedded under the pavement, essentially creating an auto-pilot bus system. I know what you’re thinking: without a driver behind the wheel, wouldn’t this system pose problems such as you know, running over pedestrians and not stopping people who don’t pay bus fare?
Well here’s the catch: apparently the bus can dock with precision accuracy and steer itself, but a driver is still needed to brake and accelerate. So besides making bus drivers’ jobs a little easier, the magnetic bus system doesn’t really change your bus-riding experience, except maybe making the bus drivers a little less grouchy.
Image Source: davdaven under Creative Commons
Researchers showcase automated bus that uses magnets to steer through city streets [UC Berkeley News]
Tags:AC Transit, magnetic bus, magnetic guidance system
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Comments:
Sep 8, 2008 at 12:40 am
I believe you mean “brake and accelerate” rather than “break and accelerate”.
Sep 9, 2008 at 7:29 am
lol they corrected it ^
the magic clog….ooOo……
anyway, they’ll probably still need the drivers to turn around tricky corners and congested traffic areas where other cars don’t give a damn which lane belongs to you. so yeah, it seems kinda useless.
Dec 26, 2008 at 5:30 pm
What a poorly written article. Not only does it demean bus operators – who have the patience of Job coping with the legions of idiot drivers infesting the streets – the writer can’t make a simple statement about the system. Apparently… essentially…? Just describe how it works, if you can. Stupid idea anyway, it saves no labor and increases the vehicle’s complexity. So of course California was interested in spending money on it.
Sep 7, 2008 at 9:25 pm
this doesn’t really make sense. why spend so much time and money in creating this new technology if you still need a bus driver? because at the end of the day, it isn’t exactly an improvement -just more expensive because now the company pays for the driver and fancy (but essentially useless) navigation technology.