Telecommunications company Ericsson has partnered with local Swedish public transportation and technology providers to conduct a six-month trial of two electric self-driving shuttle buses on public Stockholm roads. The goal is to test how the autonomous vehicles perform under real-word conditions for an extended period alongside cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

The fully-electric buses can carry 11 passengers (free of charge) at speeds of up to 24 km/h (15 mph) in non-ideal weather conditions. Their autonomous driving capabilities are supplied by Ericsson's open API Connected Urban Transport (CUT) platform, which allows the buses to communicate with sensor-enabled bus stops, traffic lights and road-signs.

With successful deployment of similar systems in countries like the Netherlands, the off-the-shelf platform also shares traffic data with transport agencies and service providers locally, or within multiple municipalities, to help ease congestion.

Read the full story at newatlas.com.