Driverless buses will carry passengers in the city of Sejong from November. Self-driving buses have had several trials, but this will be the first time those buses will drive themselves along with regular vehicles in real traffic situations as opposed to in a restricted testing environment. In a 37 billion-won research project on autonomous public transportation, the Korea Transport Institute, SK Telecom, Seoul National University and Hyundai Motor Company have jointly developed the self-driving buses. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will operate two driverless buses which will drive a 9.8 kilometer route two to three times a week after a test ride on Tuesday. These vehicles have level 3 autonomy, which means they require human override and can only be self-driving mode in certain conditions such as good weather. “The trial will provide a great opportunity to see if autonomous vehicles can be used as public transportation by testing their capabilities such as to board and drop off passengers at a bus stop”, a source from the ministry said. The ministry will gradually scale up the project with the aim of operating eight level 4 vehicles on a 35.6 kilometer route 20 times a week in Sejong by 2021. At level 4 autonomy, cars can drive themselves safely without a human driver. On Tuesday, the ministry will offer test rides in the driverless buses at Smart Mobility Conference Sejong 2019 on Tuesday. Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com
The city of Sejong will deploy two level three autonomous buses to transport passengers in the city from November 2019. The vehicles were jointly developed by SK Telecom, Seoul National University, Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Transport Institute. According to a press release issued on Monday, the first phase of the project is expected to be completed within six months.