Demand For Autonomous Bus Doors To Rise Post-Pandemic

In 80’s movies, actors would use autonomous cars while catching criminals and could talk to the vehicles to move around traffic. Those movies would be regarded as based on futuristic ideas. It’s safe to that we are in the future portrayed in those movies.

Complete autonomy. These two words have driven several tech-giants in Silicon Valley. Companies such as Tesla are working on several fronts to improve the transportation sector as we know it. Investing in electric cars, hyperloops, and autonomous vehicles are some examples. Soon, there will be a day when instead of owning a car, we would prefer to hail a cab or bus that is driven by without drivers and run on electricity and creating zero carbon pollution.

The concept of autonomous buses is not so futuristic now. The automotive company, Mercedes-Benz is way ahead of the curve. The company has already unveiled the Future Bus, which is capable of driving itself. The innovations such as this are responsible for the growth of the supplementary markets such as autonomous bus doors systems industry. According to Allied Market Research, the industry is expected to garner $77 million by 2027, growing at CAGR 43.8% from 2020 to 2027. The integration of autonomous bus doors would witness a significant demand as people opt for contactless option due to outbreak of Covid-19. Thus, the global market for autonomous bus doors is expected to increase post-pandemic.

Mercedes’ Future Bus uses CItyPilot technology to identity traffic signals and interact & negotiate with such signals. The bus could stop at the designated bus stops automatically and open & close gates for passengers. Moreover, the technology is fully capable of obstacles and people on the streets and apply breaks automatically to avoid collision. In order to do this, the CityPilot uses dozens of cameras for scanning the road and surrounding and the integrated GPS helps develop images to position the bus when the bus stop approaches.

Apart from this, the outbreak of Covid-19 has greatly impacted the autonomous bus door system technology. During such trying times, people realized how major public transportation systems are completely dependent on humans. However, to avoid the risk of infection, companies had to come up with innovations to continue public transportation. For instance, Mercedes has offered a professional retrofit solution for driver protection door with separating pane for its city bus.

The pandemic has increased the demand for autonomous buses, taxis, and cars. In addition, the potential for such transportation alternatives is high in expanding urban areas with growing population as such vehicles can operate at very low maintenance cost compared to underground network services. The driverless cars operate at low cost and reduce to total expenditure by more than 50% and investment is lower than the investments on developing underground networks.

On the other hand, the need to reduce traffic congestion, rise in demand for fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicles, and development of smart cities are the major motives for the increasing demand for autonomous vehicles. The autonomous buses are a sustainable solution for reducing traffic congestion as well as an eco-friendly mode of transportations. Thus, in the future, people will demand driverless buses more than ever. 

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