The future is coming very quietly around the corner - and two minutes late.
Branches sticking out over the street, a car parked too far from the curb and an oncoming cyclist with little distance have stopped.
The self-driving minibus in the Weiherfeld-Dammerstock district of Karlsruhe is programmed to stop too early.
To be on the safe side.
At the agreed meeting point, two women are already on the lookout for the driverless shuttle. You are in no hurry. “We just wanted to try it out,” says Gudrun Vater, who ordered the bus to Dreisamstrasse with her 90-year-old mother Sieglinde using a smartphone app.
Since the middle of April, three e-buses (“Vera”, “Ella” and “Anna”) have been running in normal road traffic as part of a model project funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport.
In contrast to other shuttle projects in Germany, the Karlsruhe buses do not roll on a specified route, but freely and on demand: from the front door to the tram stop, to the nearest shop or simply for a tour of the district.
The ride in the driverless bus is free, but must be ordered in advance using the "eva-shuttle" app.
The project is limited to the end of June and, according to the Karlsruhe Transport Authority (VBK), is unique in Germany.
"Don't be foolhardy"
"This is a great offer that will continue to expand," says Siegfried Brockmann, Head of Accident Research at the insurer. In terms of safety, it is unproblematic as long as the buses are traveling at a maximum of 20 kilometers per hour. But in order to be able to keep up with normal traffic, the buses would have to be faster. Brockmann therefore warns: “You mustn't be foolhardy so that in the end it is no longer manageable.” City traffic is a challenge. “There are very many individuals who make unpredictable decisions. Nobody can know in advance whether a pedestrian will stop or continue running. "
That is why there is a security driver in Karlsruhe who can intervene at any time. He has to be fully focused. Because “Vera”, “Ella” and “Anna” are similar to novice drivers: “You have to expect the vehicle to do something it shouldn't do at any moment,” says VBK safety driver Christoph. The working student is mainly occupied with getting the bus moving again and again. “In the event of danger, it stops.” And the bus senses this with every tight overtaking maneuver. The VBK man would like a more active role in traffic. He only pressed the red button once: when he had doubts whether the bus would react correctly. "He fell in with me a little too late."
Safety first, emphasizes Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) in view of some accidents with autonomous cars.
The fan of the Karlsruhe project points out, however, that nine out of ten accidents can be traced back to human error.
Like a small rear-end collision in the Weiherfeld test phase when there were no passengers yet: An inexperienced escort had pressed the red button too late.
"You run faster there"
The Weiherfeld shuttle is in demand: by mid-May, the VBK had over 500 passengers on more than 300 trips. From grandpa with grandson to university professor - most of them are curious and want to test the offer and even come from Stuttgart to do so, reports VBK spokeswoman Sarah Fricke. Up to 20 percent are "regular customers". Like the elderly lady who can be picked up from home for the weekly clinic appointment and taken to the tram. “She used to drive a taxi.” Or the mother who picks up her kids from daycare in the shuttle.
Some see the e-bus - it travels at up to 12.5 kilometers per hour, the aim is 20 - simply a traffic obstacle.
The then overtake annoyed, also honking.
And there are scoffers: "You run faster there," says one woman.
Most of the Weiherfelder take the normal bus to the Dammerstock tram stop anyway.
Already out of habit.
Others, like an 88-year-old, don't have a smartphone - and couldn't order the shuttle.
Close public transport gaps
VBK managing director Alexander Pischon is curious to see how the offer will be received.
He can imagine that such shuttles could at some point - “if the technology is mature enough” - close public transport gaps at night, on weekends and in rural areas.
Professor J. Marius Zöllner, head of the leading FZI Research Center for Information Technology, hopes the Weiherfeld experiment will provide information on how ordinary people react to driverless buses. “From a technical point of view, we have learned above all that the concept of free automated driving is very applicable.” And also that you have to react more to the unexpected - for example, when cyclists overtake on the right. If you were to modify safety distances, shuttles would not have to stop all the time. After all, you don't have to keep as much distance from the curb as you do from the cyclist.
After the first trip, Gudrun and Sieglinde's father are impressed by how fast the bus can already be on the move - and by the barrier-free exit: if the 90-year-old pushes the wheelchair button, the bus kneels and goes up a ramp. From the point of view of Gudrun Vater, the shuttle would be a mobility gain for older people if the app were "a little more user-friendly" and the radius of the journeys were larger. "My mother would be happy about such a service and would also learn how to use the app." The senior citizen would then be able to come to the coffee party more easily and also to the allotment garden.