Phileas (public transport)

Phileas is a bus rapid transit, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven (SRE), Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region (most prominently; APTS and Bombardier). It is an advanced guided bus intended to deliver tram-like public transport at a very low cost: the infrastructure is much cheaper, because of less maintenance, and there are no rails and overhead lines. The biggest feature of the bus is the recharging of the battery by means of electromagnetic induction; which means that the battery can be made much smaller, and thus less heavy and environmentally damaging. The project started in the late 1990s; there was a wish to demonstrate the high technology level and technical knowledge in the Eindhoven area and to create jobs. The project has cost more than one billion euros, including infrastructure changes.

Phileas is called after Phileas Fogg, the protagonist in Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne because of the high speed and ability to be on time.

The Phileas mainly drives on a bus lane. The navigation consists of a pre-programmed route, which is verified by using magnets built into the road. The used technique FROG assures that the buses are able to drive automatically, though a driver is always present - the budget prevented the Phileas from being completely separated from ordinary traffic, so a driver is needed under Dutch law. For some years the regional authority for urban transport in Eindhoven (SRE) decided not to use the magnetic guidance system any more.

The computer system inside the Phileas buses is designed according to Safety Integrity Level SIL-4. It controls the vehicle's speed and direction and has a triple-redundant, fail-safe architecture. This means that one system consists of three single-board computers in a 2-out-of-3 configuration. Each is installed in a different place in the bus, so as to avoid a complete system failure in case of a vehicle collision. Every single computer obtains data from all sensors via two CAN bus connections and compares them with the other two computers' results. In case of data mismatch, the bus is switched off and the entire system goes into safe state, which means that the bus stops and opens its doors.

...
Wikipedia