Self-driving bus put to the test on Barcelona streets

Self-driving cars used only to be the centerpiece of many sci-fi novels and cinema. Still, now they could become an integral part of Barcelona’s cityscape, as they already have in other cities around the world, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Wuhan in China.

These days, the first autonomous public mini-bus is being tested in Barcelona.

Behind the project are the French car manufacturer Renault Group and the international tech company specializing in self-driving cars, WeRide.

It’s the first time an autonomous public bus is tested in Catalonia and Spain, and it was first seen on the streets of the Catalan Capital during this year’s Mobile World Congress.

From Paris to Barcelona

Before coming to Barcelona, the bus was first introduced in the streets of Paris in 2024, and now it’s open to the public to try for free until Friday.

Patrick Vergelas, the head of Autonomous Mobility Projects at Renault Group, told the press on Tuesday that the streets of Barcelona are the “ideal” testing ground for a self-driving vehicle because of the different characteristics of the cityscape.

The director of International Business and Commercialization of WeRide, Boxiang Li, added during the presentation that the company, which is based in Silicon Valley, can learn “a lot from Barcelona’s traffic scenarios.”

"One of the biggest challenges of this demonstration is the huge interaction with pedestrians," explains Vicente Milanés, the Director of Open Innovation of Renault Group, adding that the number of interactions on Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya are "amazing" and show that "the technology is mature" to be implented. 

4-stop route

The pilot route is two kilometers long and takes between 20 and 30 minutes to complete. It takes passengers on a circular route with four stops, from the bottom of the Rambla de Catalunya boulevard and Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes towards the Diagonal Avenue, to Passeig de Gràcia, where it stops at the iconic modernist buildings, Casa Battló and La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudí.

The bus fits eight passengers and is the size of a Barcelona neighborhood bus. It is equipped with three screens: one that shows the route, another that tracks the traffic via AI, and a third that records the street.

In terms of safety Milanés assures that the bus is safe as it follows "all the regulations in terms of safety." 

"We have more than 20 sensors, so 10 cameras, 6 radars, 6 ultrasounds to be sure that all the information is redundant and we are able to detect all the situations in the traffic."

Six levels of autonomy

When speaking about automated and autonomous driving, there are a total of six levels.

According to the Renault Group, Level L0 does not have any driving assistance, depending solely on a human driver, while L5 is a vehicle that is “fully autonomous, in all situations and without any onboard operators”.

The minibus being tested in Barcelona is an L4 model, meaning that it’s “capable of managing driving situations on their own,” although they require remote supervision and should be driven “within an operational defined domain.” This type is also known as “mind off.”

According to Renault, autonomous busses are “a game changer for public transport” and show how modern technology is “ecological, agile and flexible.”

The vehicle will be in circulation in Barcelona from March 10 to 14 and has been authorized for trial by the Barcelona City Council and Directorate General of Traffic (DGT).