Hyundai Mobis simulates self-driving in its lab. [Yonhap News Photo]
A driverless autonomous bus will make its first commercial debut in South Korea at the end of this year following a flawless operation on the test road in the southern satellite city of Seoul, transport authorities said Thursday.
The transport ministry said in its New year policy report that a 12-seat autonomous electric bus would start transporting paid passengers in December on a 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) course in Pangyo.
At a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the bus will shuttle between a subway station and the Pangyo Techno Valley, an industrial complex focusing on information, biotech and cultural technology, it said.
For a while, the operation will be monitored by safety personnel to prevent an accident, the ministry said, adding it would operate self-driving vehicles in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang for two weeks from February 9 when it hosts the Winter Olympics. Later on, South Korea plans to establish a highway fully devoted to driverless automobiles.
South Korean urban roads are heavily congested, hampering the development of autopilot driving. Unlike self-driving cars like those being developed by Uber and Google, buses follow predetermined routes and can get away with a lower level of machine intelligence.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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