INCHEON - Incheon plans to put a self-driving bus on the bus rapid transit line that links its Cheongna district with Seoul's Gangseo district in the second half of 2027, running it late at night after regular service thins out, city officials said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The city's transport policy bureau said it would first deploy one large electric autonomous bus on the 23.8-kilometer route, which runs from Cheongna in Incheon's Seo district through Bucheon in Gyeonggi province to Hwagok Station in Gangseo, according to Incheon Today and Financial News. Of that distance, 18.3 kilometers, from the Cheongna International Business Complex to the Gogang underpass in Bucheon, is a median bus-only lane that the city said makes it easier to operate an autonomous vehicle safely because the bus does not mix with general traffic.
The bus will leave Cheongna at around 11 p.m. and run to Gangseo, adding a vehicle to the route rather than replacing the existing 7700 bus, Financial News reported. NewDaily reported that the 7700's last departure from Cheongna is currently 11:20 p.m. and that the vehicle is a 42-seat electric bus. A safety worker will ride on board to prevent accidents, Financial News said.
The city plans to add one bus a year through 2030 and spend 5 billion won over four years on the line. It said it would also consider driverless operation with remote control in the longer term.
The plan is not yet final. Financial News reported that it still needs budget money and administrative approvals, and that the Cheongna to Gangseo line must be newly designated as an autonomous vehicle pilot zone after talks among Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi. The city is aiming for that designation in the first half of 2027 and for service in the second half. Incheon Today reported that the bureau is seeking to include the project in the city's 2027 budget.
Incheon also plans autonomous shuttles in two existing pilot zones from the second half of 2027. In Yeongjong, two commuter buses would run on a 9.7-kilometer route between Haneul City and Unseo Station. In Songdo, one shuttle would serve a 3.7-kilometer loop around Central Park that links convention venues, hotels and tourist sites. Incheon Today put the cost of the two shuttle projects at 5.2 billion won from 2027 to 2030, and Financial News said the city is considering having the Incheon Technopark run them.
Incheon was granted four autonomous vehicle pilot zones by the national transport ministry in December 2023 and passed an ordinance to support them in July 2024, but NewDaily reported that the projects had stalled over funding. South Korea's transport ministry set a target in February of commercializing Level 4 autonomous driving in 2027.
"We will prepare both projects from next year so that citizens can ride them directly in the second half," Park Seong-soon, director of the city's transport policy bureau, said at the briefing, according to Financial News. He added that the city would fully verify the safety and effectiveness of autonomous operation on the BRT and in the pilot zones before expanding it into a wider public transport service.
The Cheongna to Gangseo BRT opened in July 2013. NewDaily reported that it carried 240,000 passengers in its first year and 2,142,000 last year, with 15.93 million riders in total.
