In the near future, testing of unmanned vehicles without a test engineer on board may begin in some Russian cities, [...] the Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports, citing a source in the Ministry of Transport.
Drones without drivers in the salons will first be released on the streets Moscow, St. Petersburg, Skolkovo (Moscow region) and Innopolis (Tatarstan), the ministry said. Technologically, manufacturers of such cars are already ready to bring them to urban conditions.
According to the publication, several commercial companies and scientific institutes are engaged in the creation of unmanned vehicles in Russia: Yandex, KAMAZ, Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State Technical University (MADI). In 2018, testing of drones on public roads began, but with engineers on board.
Earlier, the Ministry of Transport announced tests of unmanned vehicles without the participation of drivers in the period from 2021 to 2024. In a number of regions, it is planned to create zones with 5G networks for the experiment. At the same time, Yandex told the publication that they are creating self-driving cars that could drive on public roads regardless of environmental conditions and infrastructure development. The company noted that drones can already move independently, but they must learn to predict changes in the situation, since not everyone drives strictly according to the rules.
Deputy Minister Ministry of Economic Development of Russia Vladislav Fedulov said that the documentation for the launch of testing of unmanned cars was developed jointly with Yandex, now it needs to be approved with the regulatory authorities, "so that they understand how such unmanned cars will move on the road." The experiment on testing unmanned vehicles is designed for three years, he said.
It also became known that the 700th anniversary electric bus, which was released by the new KAMAZ assembly center, has been released on the streets of Moscow since Tuesday, August 17. This was announced by the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, in his blog .
"Moscow electric buses serve 56 routes. In three years of operation, they have traveled more than 40 million kilometers and transported more than 100 million passengers, " the mayor noted.
According to him, electric buses are the most environmentally friendly type of urban transport. They are equipped with USB connectors, media screens and climate control for the convenience of passengers.
The mayor specified that the 700th electric bus was purchased with the funds received by the city budget from the placement of "green" bonds. Sobyanin noted that by the end of 2021, another 300 "green" innovative cars will be added to the Mosgortrans fleet.