Corporations will be able to conduct pilot operations of unmanned self-driving cars across Gwangju starting in the second half.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 28th that, through a resolution by the Autonomous Driving Vehicle Pilot Operation Zone Committee, it has designated the entirety of Gwangju Metropolitan City as the nation's first city-level pilot operation zone for self-driving cars. It also selected Hyundai Motor, Autonomous a2z, and RideFlux as participating corporations to develop end-to-end (E2E) artificial intelligence (AI) Autonomous Driving technology in this area. E2E is an AI technology for Autonomous Driving that integrates the perception, decision-making, and control phases when a vehicle is in motion.
These corporations will receive 200 dedicated vehicles from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and freely conduct demonstrations across Gwangju starting in the second half. Hyundai Motor is simultaneously developing Autonomous Driving technologies at level 2 (driving assistance) and level 4 (Autonomous Driving). It also plans to advance 42dot's "Atria AI" technology and install it in vehicles at home and abroad.
Autonomous a2z, a domestic Autonomous Driving company, will lead the transition to Autonomous Driving in public transportation by leveraging its capability to build the driverless Autonomous Driving shuttle (Roii). Autonomous a2z is applying Autonomous Driving services to shuttles, demand-responsive transit (DRT), and buses in 14 local governments nationwide.
RideFlux, which is conducting demonstrations of self-driving cars with a test driver seated in the passenger seat, will transition to unmanned Autonomous Driving within the first half. It is also conducting demonstrations in the field of paid freight transportation on highways.
To implement the AI self-driving car mega special zone released at the Regulatory Rationalization Committee on the 15th in Gwangju, the government plans to create a top-tier regulatory sandbox environment by providing linked support through seven support packages (fiscal, finance, tax, talent, infrastructure, technology/startups, and institutions).