At 4 a.m. on the 4th, a person surnamed Kim, 64, who boarded Seoul's Dawn Companion Autonomous Driving bus "A504," said this. Kim, who works as a cleaner at a bank in Seoul, used to take the late-night bus "N51" around 3:25 a.m. to get to work. A transfer was required along the way, and because of long headways, Kim often had to wait more than 20 minutes at the stop.
Kim said, "In the dead of winter and in the height of summer alike, I had to wait endlessly at the bus stop to transfer, but now that there's a bus that goes straight from in front of my home to my workplace, it's really convenient," adding, "I think I'll be able to work longer."
The Seoul city government has added an Autonomous Driving bus targeting "dawn mobility rights." The aim is to reduce the inconvenience of existing late-night buses and absorb early-morning commuting demand.
◇ Only stops with many first-bus riders… differentiated as an "express route"
According to the Seoul city government on the 6th, the Autonomous Driving bus A504 began service on the 29th of last month. On weekdays, it runs once a day, departing the Geumcheon-gu Office stop at 3:30 a.m., which is 30 minutes earlier than the first regular city bus. It runs a 35.2-kilometer round-trip section via Sillim Station, Noryangjin Station, Yongsan, and Seoul Station to City Hall Station. The total travel time is about two hours.
The feature of this route is that it is an "express." In consultation with the Seoul city government, it stops at only 32 of the regular No. 504 bus stops where many passengers board the first bus. By reducing unnecessary stops, travel time has been shortened. During the one-year pilot period, it will operate free of charge.
Passengers met on the A504 on the 4th were generally satisfied. Office worker Lee Sang-min, 40, who commutes to Gwanghwamun, said, "I often take a late-night bus and get to work early because there's a lot of overtime, and if I take the A504, my arrival time is about 30 minutes faster, which is nice."
Miyu, 23, a Japanese national who likes K-pop and has been learning dance in Korea for two years, went home on the A504. Miyu said, "I practice dance from midnight to 3:30 a.m. and used to have to take a taxi and so on, but now there's a bus," smiling.
◇ It's Autonomous Driving, but there is also a bus driver for "unexpected situations"
As the bus departed, an announcement played: "Hello. Welcome aboard the Autonomous Driving bus." It was followed by repeated guidance to "please wear your seat belt for safety." Unlike regular city buses, on Autonomous Driving buses passengers must be seated and wear seat belts.
Overall, the driving was stable. The bus turned the wheel on its own on curves and repeatedly stopped and started according to signals. It maintained a speed of about 30–45 kph and raised it to 60 kph only on the Hangang Bridge section. The speed is set to handle unexpected situations.
The Autonomous Driving bus recognizes its surroundings in real time—lanes, pedestrians, traffic lights—through seven to eight high-performance cameras mounted front, rear, and sides, along with LiDAR, radar, and about a dozen other sensors. According to the Seoul city government, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve smooth cornering, stable lane changes, and compliance with stop lines. Cha Ji-hoon, 42, who said it was the first time using it on the way to work, said, "I was surprised the ride was much better than I feared."
However, it is not completely unmanned. A driver serving as a "safety manager" sits in the driver's seat to prepare for unexpected situations. In fact, shortly after departure that day, the bus briefly stopped because it failed to acquire a GPS signal, and as a result departed about three minutes later than scheduled. The role of the safety manager is to immediately correct system anomalies.
In some sections, the driver takes the wheel directly. In school zones, Autonomous Driving is prohibited under current law, and in the roughly 1.3-kilometer area around Sillim Intersection, manual driving is used because there are many intoxicated pedestrians and illegally parked vehicles. It is closer to "partial Autonomous Driving" than full autonomy.
◇ Citizens commuting at dawn… cheering for the free fare
Including the A504, the Seoul city government is operating a total of four Autonomous Driving routes: A160 (Dobongsan Station–Yeongdeungpo Station), A741 (Gupabal Station–Yangjae Station), and A148 (Sanggye Station–Express Bus Terminal). Each vehicle carries about 20 passengers. The A160 route surpassed a cumulative 20,000 riders one year after launch.
The city plans to expand Autonomous Driving transit step by step. It will increase Autonomous Driving buses and taxis from the current 18 to 100 by 2027, and to 1,000 by 2030.