Daegu Alpha City 6km, Autonomous Vehicles Operating

Operation from February 1 ... Fare 2000 Won

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-seon] Daegu City and autonomous driving specialist company ‘Sonet’ will launch a paid autonomous driving transportation service on a 6 km route around Suseong-gu Alpha City starting February 1.

Paid passenger transportation using autonomous vehicles is permitted in designated ‘Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zones’ under the ‘Act on Promotion and Support for Commercialization of Autonomous Vehicles.’

In December 2021, Daegu City was designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as an Autonomous Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone for Suseong Alpha City (2.2 km²) and the Techno Polis and National Industrial Complex area (19.7 km², 2.6 km).

Autonomous vehicles to operate in Alphacity.

The paid autonomous vehicle transportation in Daegu’s Suseong Alpha City will begin with a circular route around the Alpha City area, providing transportation services using autonomous vehicles to local residents and visitors to the medical district.

The service will operate in a shuttle bus style, with autonomous vehicles based on passenger vans running at 30-minute intervals on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A city official stated, “The autonomous vehicles operating in Alpha City are Level 3 autonomous driving vehicles with a driver who also serves as a safety officer. Since the entire 6 km route is an autonomous driving zone, the driver can take their hands off the wheel, but will manually drive in areas such as school zones.”

Sonet, the demonstration operator of the paid autonomous vehicle transportation service in Suseong Alpha City, has been providing demand-responsive autonomous paid transportation services in Techno Polis since January 2022. With the addition of the Suseong Alpha City route, Sonet now operates two autonomous driving service routes within Daegu city.

Sonet is the first autonomous driving specialized startup founded by a researcher from DGIST. In 2018, it became the first small and medium enterprise to receive a temporary autonomous driving operation permit.

Autonomous Vehicle Operation Route.

The autonomous vehicles in Suseong Alpha City can be accessed through Sonet’s autonomous driving mobility service platform, raxi. Although the autonomous vehicle has 11 seats, only 6 passengers will be accommodated initially, with plans to increase the number of vehicles as demand grows. The fare is 2,000 KRW.

The service operates on an approximately 6 km route connecting Daegongwon Station, inside Suseong Alpha City, and back to Daegongwon Station. In the future, the route will be expanded from Daegongwon Station to major local tourist attractions such as Daegu Art Museum and Daegu Stadium, establishing itself as a mobility service for everyday use.

In particular, the route is designed around Daegongwon Station on Metro Line 2 to ensure connectivity between existing public transportation and autonomous driving transportation services, enhancing its utility.

Lee Seung-dae, Director of the Innovation Growth Office of Daegu City, said, “Following Techno Polis, we will take the lead in making Daegu a leading city in autonomous driving by launching demonstration services in Suseong Alpha City as well.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.