"Self-Driving Bus Reaches Up to 80 km/h, Set to Run in Daejeon and Sejong"

Self-driving buses that operate without driver intervention will soon be running through Daejeon and Sejong.

The Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on the 29th that it will launch the "Daejeon Autonomous Driving Pilot Zone Passenger Transport Service" starting on the 30th of this month.

Self-driving buses will begin pilot operations in Daejeon and Sejong starting on the 30th. Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute

The self-driving bus will operate for free as a pilot service once per weekday (round trip) from January 30 to March 31. The route covers "KAIST~Shinsegae Department Store~Daedeok High School~Hana Apartment~Banseok Station~Sejong Terminal."

The route includes sections connecting the subway (Banseok Station) and intercity bus (Sejong Terminal), providing a testbed to demonstrate that autonomous vehicles can serve as a core component of next-generation public transportation, rather than being limited to simple demonstration experiences.

Following the pilot operation, from April until December 31, 2028, the self-driving bus will be converted to a paid passenger transport service. During this period, the number of stops and operating frequency will be gradually expanded.

Notably, the self-driving bus will travel at up to 50 km/h in downtown Daejeon and up to 80 km/h on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) section heading toward Sejong. This is comparable to regular city buses and demonstrates that key technologies such as lane keeping, inter-vehicle distance control, merging, and emergency braking are now commercialized and capable of supporting high-speed operation.

The operation of the self-driving bus is being carried out through a "One-Team" collaboration between ETRI and local companies in Daejeon. ETRI is providing core technologies such as autonomous driving artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and software, while local companies-including Tesla System, Move2, Cuba, and Altist-are responsible for vehicle modification, infrastructure construction, and operation platform development.

Through this initiative, ETRI expects that participating Daejeon-based companies will accumulate practical experience and technological capabilities in autonomous driving, enabling them to play a leading role in establishing an autonomous transportation network throughout the Chungcheong region in the future.

In addition, ETRI and the Daejeon city government plan to make the "real-road driving demonstration data" accumulated through the operation of the self-driving bus available to the private sector. The released data will be utilized by universities, research institutes, and startups for commercialization-linked R&DB purposes, contributing to the development of specialized talent in autonomous driving.

ETRI President Bang Seungchan said, "Through the pilot service of self-driving buses, ETRI will work to establish safe and reliable autonomous driving technology and create a virtuous cycle in which the data and technologies accumulated through large-scale public transportation demonstrations are fed back into the industry."

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