Seoul to begin self-driving nighttime buses

An autonomous bus that runs around Cheonggyecheon in downtown Seoul. The Seoul city government plans to operate cross-city autonomous buses at nighttime later this year. [YONHAP]

Self-driving public buses could ply the streets of Seoul at night as soon as this year.

Officials from Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metropolitan Council confirmed this week that the city government is planning to soon launch a pilot project involving self-driving buses running from Mapo District in western Seoul to Dongdaemun District in eastern Seoul, a cross-city journey that’s 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) long.

During the pilot project, the buses will operate for five hours starting midnight.

Once the city government completes the pilot run and makes technical adjustments, the rides could be offered to the general public as early as October, officials said.

Exactly when the pilot project will begin remains unknown, but city government officials explained that they submitted documents to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last month detailing the bus route they wish to use.

Given that such documents are normally reviewed within 90 days, Seoul Metropolitan Government said they are hoping to choose an autonomous vehicle business partner from the private sector in May or June.

Three buses will be used in the project.

Once the autonomous buses are open to the public later this year and run between Mapo and Dongdaemun for two years, Seoul said it would lengthen the bus route to add 3.5 kilometers to the northeast, allowing passengers to travel as far as Cheongnyangni.

While Seoul currently runs late-night buses called Owl Bus across 14 different routes, city government officials explained that they’ve received many complaints about the 40-minute intervals.

The city hopes the autonomous buses will shorten the time gap and help people get home safely.

While asking the Land Ministry to green-light the pilot project bus route, Seoul said it also sought approval to operate autonomous buses around the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, and the Blue House and Gyeongbok Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, for tourism purposes.

If approved, tourists will be able to take autonomous bus rides 1.2 kilometers around the National Assembly Building and 3.8 kilometers around Jongno District.

The Seoul city government is also discussing self-driving road-cleaning trucks, with officials saying they could run one or two trucks in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, or along Cheonggyecheon in downtown Seoul as early as October.

Robot delivery services at parks along the Han River, wherein robots bring delivery food to people enjoying their downtime on the riverside, is another project that’s planned for the year.

BY KIM MIN-WOOK, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]