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

  • Preparing for unpredictable precipitation
    August 18, 2015
    ITS solutions are helping streamline winter road maintenance for Delaware and Illinois, two states that must deal with dynamic weather and varying snowfall totals. Andrew Bardin Williams reports. Wilmington and Newark (pronounced new-ark) are two vastly different cities that sit on opposite ends of Delaware. Newark is a sleepy university town of roughly 30,000 residents abutting the state’s western border with Maryland and Pennsylvania, and often gets confused with its larger namesake in New Jersey.
  • Baidu 'brings autonomous MaaS' to China 
    February 15, 2021
    New venture in Guangzhou includes robotaxis as well as driverless buses on fixed routes
  • US cities opt for variable-rate parking
    May 28, 2014
    Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the US cities opting to use variable-rate parking to make it easier to find a parking space. Los Angeles is piloting LA Express Park, program covering a 4.5 square-mile area of downtown using technology to match on-street parking prices with demand. The objective is to ensure that between 10 and 30 per cent of the parking spaces on each block are open throughout the day. Smart meters and sensors compile occupancy and payment data and based on that information, a pr
  • Hamburg’s on-demand alternative to commuting by car
    December 5, 2017
    As Hamburg is confirmed as the host for the 2021 ITS World Congress, David Crawford looks at the city’s moves towards enabling MaaS-type operations. Germany’s second-largest city, Hamburg, is pinning its civic reputation on having its promised all-electric, on-demand, shuttle bus ridesharing service up and running by 2018. Partners in the three-year project are regional metro and bus service provider Hamburger Hochbahn and Volkswagen Group’s Berlinbased mobility innovation subsidiary Moia, which was set