Self-driving buses have been tested on the open road for the first time between Schiphol airport and Haarlem.

The buses are equipped with 20 cameras that can react to traffic lights and are programmed to travel in the middle of the road. A driver sits at the controls ready to step in if the automatic system fails, BNR reported.

The goal is to have the first automatic buses in service by 2020. ‘I think it’s going to be a while before we can be driven around automatically in any kind of vehicle,’ said Edith Post, of the North Holland provincial assembly, at the official launch in Amsterdam. ‘But we think it’s important to make our roads accessible and carry out these kinds of tests.’