Autonomous Shuttle Bus to Begin Operation on 12.3km Route from Cheolsan Station to Gwangmyeong Cave on October 7

An autonomous shuttle bus service between Cheolsan Station and Gwangmyeong Cave will be introduced.

Gwangmyeong City (Mayor Park Seung-won) announced on the 28th that it will begin operating an autonomous shuttle bus 'GM1' on the 12.3km route between Cheolsan Station and Gwangmyeong Cave starting October 7.

One 15-seat electric bus will operate Monday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Service will not operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, and public holidays.

Four trips will be operated daily, beginning with the 10:00 a.m. outbound departure from Cheolsan Station heading to Gwangmyeong Cave, followed by the 11:40 a.m. inbound departure from Gwangmyeong Cave, the 2:00 p.m. outbound trip, and the 3:40 p.m. inbound trip. The outbound route stops at 25 stations while the inbound route stops at 24 stations.

In particular, this autonomous shuttle bus route will connect major tourist destinations including Ori Seowon, Choonghyun Museum, Gi Hyungdo Literature Museum, and Gwangmyeong Cave with Line 7's Cheolsan Station and KTX Gwangmyeong Station, thereby improving access to tourist areas and contributing to tourism vitalization.

Mayor Park Seung-won stated, "We will integrate future mobility technology into citizens' daily lives to enhance convenience of travel, and continue to expand safe and innovative transportation services."

The autonomous shuttle bus operation follows the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's designation last year of the Ori-ro section connecting Cheolsan Station and Gwangmyeong Cave as an 'autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone.'

An autonomous vehicle pilot operation zone is an area designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to promote commercialization of autonomous vehicles and support the resolution of local transportation issues, with special regulatory exemptions applied for road and transportation-related matters for autonomous vehicle operations.

The city completed the construction of core autonomous driving support infrastructure including road communication equipment, high-precision road maps, and online signal control devices in the first half of this year to ensure safe autonomous operation. The city also conducted actual road demonstrations using AI-based autonomous driving data and completed system stabilization work to prepare for operation.

The city plans to connect its experience with this autonomous shuttle bus operation to future mobility in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung Third New City and expand smart transportation services that citizens can experience.

The Gwangmyeong-Siheung Third New City was selected in November 2023 as a development site for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Future Mobility Urban-type Project,' and next-generation mobility services including robo-taxis, robo-shuttles, and urban air mobility (UAM) along with related infrastructure are planned to be established.