Skip to main content

Seoul adds autonomous bus to city's public transportation network

Following 11-month pilot, it will run on a 2.6km route in Korean capital
By Adam Hill July 9, 2024 Read time: 1 min
The Cheongwadae AV has five stops on a 15-minute route (image: Seoul Metropolitan Government)

Autonomous buses have been integrated into the city of Seoul's public transport system following an 11-month trial.

It costs the same as standard buses on the network, and runs at five locations every 15 minutes on a 2.6km route around some of the South Korean capital's key tourist spots between Gyeongbokgung Palace, Cheongwadae and the Gyeongbokgung Station.

Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) says the bus offers free transfer to passengers with transportation cards and unlimited access for Climate Card users.

Operating Monday to Friday, it stops at Gyeongbukgung Station (Hyoja-ro Entrance), National Palace Museum of Korea (Yeongchumun Gate), Cheongwadae, Chunchumun Gate and Gyeongbokgung Palace/National Folk Museum of Korea.

The Cheongwadae AV began its pilot operation in December 2022, and SMG reported "a large number of users and a high satisfaction rate, with a total of 45,621 local and international passengers". Operation closed last November to prepare for the paid service.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Dubai introduces contactless payment on public transport
    October 19, 2012
    Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is to launch a contactless fare payment system on the city’s metro, public buses and water bus. Passengers will be able to pay by smart mobile phones using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The RTA says that contactless technology, where the mobile phone is passed over sensors mounted on the access gates to public transport stations, is the first of its kind in the Middle East.
  • Singapore aims for cashless public transport by 2020
    August 11, 2017
    Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) and TransitLink are working towards a fully cashless vision for public transport by 2020, as part of their Smart Nation efforts. LTA and TransitLink are to launch a series of initiatives where commuters will no longer use cash to pay for rides or to top up stored-value cards. A key part of this is account-based ticketing, which LTA has been piloting with Mastercard since March 2017. This provides commuters with the convenience of tapping in and out with contactless
  • Lyft, Uber have mixed impact on San Fran mobility
    May 14, 2018
    The extent to which ride-hailing has become a real force in the mobility landscape of San Francisco is great for consumers – but there are downsides, a report finds. Andrew Stone takes a look. Uber and Lyft, the two major ride-hailing platforms in San Francisco, are out-competing local cab firms in many ways - and are firmly established as a significant part of the daily mobility mix there, a recent study reveals. Researchers mined publicly-available data derived from the application programming interface
  • Polis x Pride 2022: Mind the queer public transport gap
    June 29, 2022
    Cities are striving to provide inclusive public transport for all. This cannot and will not be achieved without tackling gender and homophobic-based violence across our transit systems. While this is undoubtedly a major undertaking, Polis members — and their peers — are proving real action is possible...