Busan Holds Autonomous Bus Launch Ceremony... Service to Begin in Osiria in September

The city of Busan will hold an opening ceremony for its autonomous bus service at 11:00 a.m. on July 10 at the plaza in front of Osiria Station on the Donghae Line.

The city announced that starting in September, autonomous buses will officially operate in the area surrounding the Osiria Tourism Complex.

This opening ceremony has been organized as a promotional event to officially inform citizens about the launch of the autonomous bus service and to raise awareness and understanding of autonomous driving technology. More than 50 people attended the event, including key figures such as Busan Mayor Park Hyungjoon, city council members, and citizens.

The ceremony began with the screening of a promotional video about the autonomous bus, followed by a progress report, greetings from distinguished guests, the unveiling of the autonomous bus, a commemorative photo session, and a test ride event.

Busan plans to conduct trial operations until August and then begin full-scale passenger service for the general public starting in September. The service route will cover the Osiria Tourism Complex area, and the autonomous buses will operate in a mixed-traffic mode, sharing the road with regular vehicles.

The vehicles will operate at Level 3 of autonomous driving, which means a test driver will be on board to manually intervene when the system requests it, under conditional automation. Level 3 indicates that the vehicle can drive itself under certain conditions without driver intervention. This autonomous bus operation marks the first case in Busan where artificial intelligence (AI)-based public transportation is being introduced into citizens' daily lives.

At the event, Mayor Park Hyungjoon stated, "This autonomous bus operation, the first of its kind in Busan, is a symbolic beginning of citizens' daily lives moving onto a full-fledged AI-based transportation system. AI is the key to improving citizens' quality of life and advancing society, and we will establish the future of Busan and the lives of its citizens on an AI foundation, not only in transportation but also in all areas including industry, economy, culture, administration, and education."

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