LILEE Systems Selected to Drive the First Revenue-Generating Autonomous Bus

Autonomous rapid transit (ART) systems to solve public transportation challenges, such as increasing travel demands and driver shortage

LILEE Systems, the leading provider of self-driving technologies and system integrations, announces its partnership with the Tainan City Government to launch the city’s first revenue-generating self-driving bus program. LILEE’s self-driving bus will begin to serve two business areas of the fifth largest city in Taiwan later this year, a milestone in the city’s two-year smart transportation development plan.

The Tainan City Government and LILEE Systems expect to start revenue services in the second half of 2020 on two business routes. The city plans to open up more public roads for autonomous vehicles operations after safety verification and performance evaluation. The Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART) system will continue to mature based on riders’ feedback and ongoing technology development. 

LILEE conducted a self-driving proof-of-concept in 2018 and a proof-of-service in 2019 and demonstrated high passenger satisfaction and reliable operations. Based on rail-control principles, the bus will run on fixed bus routes, remotely managed by a cloud-based, centralized operations control center (OCC) for an added layer of safety. The success proved that ART enhances safety and passenger experience in public transportation compared to LRT (light rail transit) and BRT (bus rapid transit). Backed by its successful demonstration, the Tainan City Government selected LILEE to lead the city’s first self-driving bus project.

“The autonomous bus project opens new opportunities for our city of ample technology resources to cultivate driverless research and development on artificial intelligence, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, high-definition maps, robotics and remote control,” said Ming-Te Wang, director of Bureau of Transportation, Tainan City Government. “We look forward to the partnership with LILEE Systems to enhance the current public transportation system with autonomous buses and together expand the sustainable business model from Tainan to the global market.”

“We are excited about the collaboration with local communication providers and transportation companies for route design, roadside infrastructure development and field tests,” said Jia-Ru Li, CEO of LILEE Systems. “Given the support of the Tainan City Government, this project will set an example of how governments can use autonomous rapid transit (ART) systems to solve public transportation challenges, such as increasing travel demands and driver shortage.”

Category: AUTONOMOUS, Featured, General Update, News, Transit News, Vehicles