The Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport has announced that he aims to begin testing driverless trams in Moscow at the end of this year / early 2023.
He shared this view at an event entitled Robots in the City: The Future of Megacities with Autonomous Transport run by the Noôdome community.
Moscow for Transport is working with Yandex on the driverless tram project. They plan to test the trams first in depots and then on the network late at night. The last stage of testing will see driverless trams carry passengers.
There is also interest in introducing driverless technologies on other forms of transport across the city.
This includes a trial for driverless taxis, and Russian Railways plans to reduce headway to three minutes or less with automated control technologies on the Moscow Central Circle (MCC).
At the event, the Deputy Mayor noted that the safety of passengers and pedestrians was of the utmost priority when testing driverless technologies.
He said that strict rules have been developed to regulate the data transfer concerning the movement of driverless transport and the interaction of institutions carrying out pilot projects.
“We're among the first to introduce the latest technologies and services in transport, including Face Pay, a virtual Troika smart card, the city app based on the MaaS principles, and the transition to electric buses.
“However, it should be understood that there will be no driverless transport boom in the near future, but we believe that urban transport can become the driving force. A driverless tram – this future is realistic. All this is included in Moscow's transport program, and we are waiting for the latest Russian-made solutions and are ready to work with them in the city.”
