On December 5, the Seoul city government, South Korea, announced that it has launched a pilot program for the first regular nighttime autonomous bus route, connecting areas with the highest nighttime traffic density in the city.
According to VNA , two buses with the number A21 began operating on the evening of December 4 to transport passengers between Hongdae and Dongdaemun districts, the two busiest areas of Seoul.
The bus operates every day of the week, from 11:30 pm to 5:10 am the next morning. The route is nearly 10km long with 20 stops and a waiting time of 70 minutes for each trip.
These buses are modified from Hyundai Motor Co.'s Elec City commercial vehicle, and are about the size of regular buses. All passengers traveling on these buses must sit in a chair and wear a seat belt.
On the first day of the pilot service, two security guards were present on the bus, and a “driver” was still in the driver’s seat but not holding the steering wheel. The bus ran slower than a regular bus, maintaining a speed of 30-40km/h, keeping a safe distance from the vehicles in front.
Seoul plans to offer free self-driving night bus service while the service stabilizes, then switch to charging in the first half of next year.
The city is also looking at expanding bus routes and introducing autonomous bus service to other long-distance routes connecting the city center with suburban areas.
Previously, in mid-May, the UK also deployed a self-driving public bus service in Scotland.
This is the world's first driverless public bus service. However, the driver will remain in the driver's seat, ready to intervene in case of an emergency.
The network of five single-decker buses will carry 10,000 passengers a week along a 22.5km route. Self-driving technology has been tested on these vehicles before, but this is the first time these driverless buses have been introduced to a local bus network.
This bus service is safer, more fuel efficient, and provides a better experience for passengers. These self-driving buses travel at speeds of up to about 80km/h, using AI, integrated radar, and optical cameras to detect obstacles. There is also a ticket inspector on board to handle ticket and passenger issues.
Wuhan, China has also begun testing a monorail. The monorail is fully automated, can run at a maximum speed of 60 km/h and can carry a maximum of about 220 passengers. The number of cars can vary from 2 to 6 cars to accommodate changes in passenger traffic.
The carriages are designed with glass on the sides and floors so that passengers can observe the surrounding landscape. The sky train is expected to be commercialized by the end of this year. This is one of the efforts of Wuhan city to build a sky train tourism project and also to deploy new types of green and low-carbon urban rail transport.
Minh Hoa (reported by VNA, VTV)
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