Passengers in a suburb of Munich are able to book autonomous on-demand vehicles in a mixed fleet as part of the public transport system for the first time.
It is one of the largest public transport projects in Germany to pair autonomous and conventional vehicles. The ultimate goal of the project is to enable autonomous vehicles to operate in all weather conditions.
Following the launch of the KEXI public on-demand service last summer with conventional vehicles, this second phase allows customers to book a ride in one of the two EZ10 autonomous electric vehicles included in the fleet via the KEXI mobile app. They are part of a purpose-built hub for autonomous vehicles that has space for five shuttles with the fleet set to expand in 2023.
The autonomous service will be offered Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Donaupark, Old Town and the Pflegerspitz parking lot. The service connects the old town of Kelheim with the Donaupark commercial area and serves a road network of almost 14 km in length. The vehicles will travel at a maximum speed of 20 km/h. Rides in the autonomous vehicles will be free.
The KelRide project is one of a handful of initiatives of this scale with a range of partners, including autonomous vehicle technology company EasyMile, the district of Kelheim, TransitTech software provider Via, consultancy P3 Group, TÜV Rheinland and the Technical University of Berlin.
(Picture – Easymile)
