The autonomous village bus 'Dongjak A01', which is the first in the country, operates during the morning rush hour in Dongjak District, Seoul.
Dongjak District announced on the 12th that it will advance the operating hours and expand the stops of the autonomous village bus to allow more residents to use it conveniently.
Dongjak A01 began trial operation on June 30 and officially started operating on the 15th of last month. Two vehicles operate a total of 14 round trips between the main gate of Soongsil University and the back gate of Chung-Ang University. Approximately 1,000 passengers have used it in the past month.
Currently, Dongjak A01 operates on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Starting from the 18th, it will operate from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The number of trips will remain the same, with two buses making seven trips each. The stops will expand from 8 locations to 11.
The autonomous village bus was developed to be deployed in densely populated areas where there is a lack of suitable public transportation. It must operate on steep and curvy narrow roads without human assistance, using artificial intelligence (AI).
For this reason, Dongjak District did not operate Dongjak A01 during the morning rush hour in the past month. On the four-lane road, many vehicles converge, and during the busy rush hour, frequent incidents of merging and tailgating occur. However, the autonomous village bus follows traffic laws and does not accelerate sharply or brake suddenly, which could make other drivers feel that it 'disrupts traffic flow.'
A Dongjak District official said, 'We are changing the operating hours to increase resident usage rates,' adding, 'We have determined that Dongjak A01 can operate even during rush hours because the route is not long.'
Park Il-ha, the head of Dongjak District, said, 'I hope that the residents can experience future transportation in their everyday lives through the autonomous village bus.'