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Sion’s driverless buses take on traffic with new route

Sion’s autonomous buses will have to negotiate regular traffic for the first time as they take on a new route from the rail station to Place du Midi.

Published: 1 March 2018 10:20 CET
Sion’s driverless buses take on traffic with new route
Photo: PostBus
The electric PostBuses, which have no driver but do have a conductor, have been tested as part of a pilot project in the Valais city of Sion since June 2016 on a 1.5km route through the pedestrian Old Town. 
 
But from Wednesday the buses took to a new route from the rail station to the Place du Midi, taking them through regular traffic for the first time, according to Valais paper Le Nouvelliste.
 
Able to carry 11 passengers and travelling at a speed of up to 20km/hr, the buses can navigate roads accurately, identify obstacles and read road signs thanks to technology developed by Lausanne-based start-up BestMile.
 
The shuttles are operated using a special fleet management system and can be stopped by a remote operator if required. The vehicles can also be stopped by the conductor applying an emergency brake.
 
The trial was temporarily suspended in autumn 2016 after one of the vehicles had a minor collision with a parked delivery van. 
 
The buses are currently free to use and run from Wednesday to Sunday. 
 
The new route was launched without a hitch on Wednesday, said the paper, however services were temporarily suspended on Thursday due to the adverse weather conditions, as snow hit the area. 
 

VALAIS

Valais launches referendum campaign for Sion Olympics

The president of Sion and the Valais cantonal government on Monday launched their campaign in favour of staging the Winter Olympics in Sion in 2026, hoping the public will agree with them when they go to vote on the issue on June 10th next year.

Published: 7 November 2017 09:33 CET
Valais launches referendum campaign for Sion Olympics
The Swiss bobsleigh team competes at the last Winter Games in Sochi. Photo: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP
While Sion would be the name on the bid, in fact the Games would be staged in several different cantons under the current proposal, including Bern, Fribourg and Vaud. 
 
The idea is that those cantons – and others across Switzerland who are not participating – share the cost of the Games, which intends to benefit the whole of the country, according to the canton’s sports minister Frédéric Favre.
 
The total cost is likely to be upwards of 2.4 billion francs, though the current 300 million franc security budget may well rise, RTS reported last week.  
 
The Swiss federal government has already pledged one billion francs of taxpayers' money in support of the bid — a move that was criticized by many, according to 20 Minuten. 
 
In a press conference on Monday, Favre said the absolute maximum that the canton would have to pay towards building infrastructure for the Games was 60 million francs, reported news agency ATS. 
 
That would include transforming of the village of Fiesch, cross-country skiing infrastructure in Conches and a new downhill ski arrival stadium in Crans-Montana – work that needed to be done, Olympics or not, said Favre.
 
The total bill for that would be 81 million francs, of which the canton would pay a maximum of 60 million, with the federal government, communes and third parties stumping up for the rest. 
 
The canton would also pay an as-yet unspecified share of the security bill, he said, with other cantons stepping up to provide police and security personnel. 
 
Hosting the Olympics would be a real boon for the canton, helping to develop the region into a year-round destination, added economy minister Christophe Darbellay. 
 
He will be hoping residents of the Valais will agree when they go to vote next June. 
 
The Bernese commune of Kandersteg, which would host ski jumping under current plans, will also vote on the issue in June, while the canton of Bern as a whole – the cities of Bern and Biel/Bienne would host ice hockey games – will vote at the end of 2018.
 
Currently a referendum is not planned in Vaud, said ATS. The Vaud cantonal capital Lausanne is the intended host of the ice-skating competition, while Leysin in the Vaud Alps would stage slopestyle.
 
Switzerland has until January 2019 to officially lodge its bid with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will choose the 2026 host city the following October. 
 
If Swiss voters reject the plan then the IOC may be left with no choice at all. 
 
Voters in Austria's Tyrol region recently quashed the idea of bidding for the Games, leaving Calgary in Canada as Sion’s only potential rival.