Arctic autonomy

In what is billed as “the most extensive pilot [program] in challenging weather conditions, ever,” a trio of Nordic companies is prepping an autonomous public-transport service in Bodø, a Norwegian city north of the Arctic Circle, to begin in February 2022. The program plans to field two modified Toyota Proace electric vehicles (EVs) operating on a 3.6-km (2.2-mile) route in the city center as a supplement to the conventional public-transportation network.

Norway’s Mobility Forus will operate the vehicles, which use Finland-based tech company Sensible 4’s “all-weather” automated-driving software and a data and supervision platform from Danish company Holo, which manages and implements autonomous-vehicle projects in Europe. The companies are collaborating to demonstrate that combining their unique abilities will help development of automated-driving technology for inclement-weather regions.
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