SEOUL - Hyundai Motor and Kia signed an agreement on Thursday with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the city's bus operators' association to commercialize Level 4 autonomous city buses, part of a plan under which Seoul aims to run driverless buses on regular routes as early as 2029 and expand the fleet to 500 by 2030, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
The memorandum of understanding was signed at City Hall by Mayor Oh Se-hoon; Park Min-woo, president and head of the AVP Division at Hyundai Motor and Kia; and Kim Jeong-hwan, chairman of the Seoul Bus Transport Business Association, according to Chosun Biz. Level 4 refers to vehicles that can drive themselves without human intervention within defined areas and handle unexpected situations on their own.
Hyundai and Kia will develop and supply buses built to carry autonomous driving systems, with standardized sensor layouts, redundant components and electronic control of steering, braking and the doors, the reports said. The buses will be supplied as platform-type vehicles that outside developers can fit with their own driving systems, and the companies plan to share the operating data they collect with Korean autonomous driving firms, research institutes and universities.
The automakers will also build a control platform to manage multiple autonomous buses in real time, monitor emergencies and respond to hazards inside vehicles, and will link it with Seoul's bus system, Chosun Biz reported.
The companies plan to finish developing the dedicated buses and technology in 2027 and 2028 and begin full-scale verification and operation from 2029, according to the Chosun Ilbo. Seoul will set the policies needed for regular service and plans to switch to autonomous buses as it replaces old vehicles. The city runs about 7,000 buses today.
City officials and the bus industry expect the shift to ease difficulty recruiting drivers and an aging workforce, and to improve the finances of a bus system that runs annual deficits in the hundreds of billions of won, the newspaper reported. The bus association will help member companies convert and prepare depots and charging sites.
"This agreement is significant in that it advances autonomous driving technology into a public transit service that citizens can use with confidence," Park said, according to Chosun Biz.
Seoul already runs an early-morning autonomous bus service on a trial basis, including a Dawn Companion bus that follows the regular No. 148 route from Sanggye Station to the Express Bus Terminal ahead of the first scheduled bus. In September, Hyundai and Kia were selected as private operators of the city's autonomous vehicle transport platform, which is expected to let riders book autonomous taxis and the early-morning buses being piloted in the Gangnam and Sangam areas through the companies' Shucle app.
