ITRI Teams Up with Taichung Gov over Taiwan's 1st Self-Driving Bus Testing Grounds

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has teamed up with Taichung City Government and several local firms to set up Taiwan's first testing grounds for self-driving buses.

The testing grounds have also prompted the first commercial operations of the self-driving buses, accumulating around 700 travelers through the process.

These firms include THI Consultants Inc., Green Transit Company, Wistron, and Taiwan Optical Platform.

The public transit bus and other public transports face several challenges, such as aging drivers, difficult recruitment conditions, and vehicles needing upgrades, ITRI's Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories head Hu Zhu-sheng said. Incorporating smart transportation into the industry would improve services and efficiency, he added.

As many countries are actively investing in a more convenient, faster, and more flexible public transportation system, ITRI's blueprint to combine machinery, AI, telecommunications with smart transportation by 2030 are considered widely-accepted industry trends.

ITRI's self-driving technologies apply GPS, AI, machine learning, deep learning, and high-precise 3D dynamic maps to overcome challenges in differing weather and environment conditions. These self-driving vehicles would be able to travel underground, through tunnels, or rainstorms without signal disruption. Currently, ITRI has successfully implemented the system into small trucks, passenger cars, SUVs, large trucks, and buses.