Autonomous buses will soon be operating in demarcated areas of Munich.
The Munich transport company (MVG) will use autonomous vehicles from April shuttles back if the city council approves the concept.
The project, called “Minga”, is intended to point to Munich’s future and help to reduce car traffic in the city. Because commuters in particular clog the streets. Local public transport and new vehicles that emit fewer emissions and are user-friendly should help here.
This area also includes autonomous driving in various models. These include so-called bus platoons, i.e. convoys of buses that drive very close together to take advantage of the slipstream. A concept that Mercedes-Benz already has excluded had. A human is only seated in the first bus, the vehicles behind follow via AI.
Exactly how this will be implemented is still unclear. Whether there are extra lanes for these vehicles. But this requires space, which is rarely available in large cities. The city of Munich weighs the costs of laying the rails against the use of the buses. Pooling is also being considered, with everyone who has to go in the same direction being bundled together.
The tests from April will take place in Freiham and im Olympic Park take place because there is more tourism here. The city is funding the project with 1.2 million euros, which represents around half of the costs.