Germany Launches Autonomous Public Transportation Trials Amid Driver Shortage

In Germany, trials for autonomous vehicles as public transportation have begun.

On May 26, the KIRA project launched public tests in select areas of the Rhein-Main region, which encompasses Frankfurt, Mainz, and Wiesbaden.

Knut Ringat, managing director of the transportation association RVN, anticipates that by 2030, KIRA will serve as an alternative to other public transport options, especially in rural areas.

He pointed out that bus services in rural communities are «already inadequate,» and the situation is expected to worsen in the coming years due to an increasing shortage of carriers.

«Today, more than 40% of our drivers are over 55, which means we’ll lose half of them in the next decade. We need an alternative,» Ringat stated.

KIRA operates similarly to other ride-sharing applications—users must specify their pickup and drop-off locations and wait for a car. The only difference is that the vehicle drives itself.

The project has launched in Langen, but if all goes well, it will expand to residents of nearby Darmstadt by the end of the year.

It’s noteworthy that in June 2024, researchers from the University of Tokyo trained a humanoid robot named Musashi to drive a small electric vehicle.