Tuesday, October 21
Driverless electric minibuses are coming soon to a street near you
In the coming days, five fully electric minibuses will start operating in the north-west of Berlin. The buses will initially complete tests without passengers. At the start of 2026, trial operations will commence with passengers and a safety officer on board in a phase that will last around a year. BVG intends to form test groups for the trial and anyone who would like to take part can apply from the beginning of next year.
Test group customers will be able to book the driverless vehicles via an app. It will connect them to the nearest S-Bahn or U-Bahn stations along a 55-kilometre route serving around 80 stops. Operating Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm, the project aims to transition to regular autonomous service by mid-2027, with BVG describing it as the beginning of a “revolution” in urban mobility that will respond to residents’ personal transport needs.
The initiative, funded with €9.5 million from the Federal Ministry of Transport, involves partnerships with Volkswagen subsidiary Moia, the Technical University of Berlin and other business and scientific organisations. Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder emphasised that autonomous driving represents the future of mobility, offering greater efficiency and accessibility, whilst Berlin’s transport senator Ute Bonde outlined the strategy of “starting small and then making it big.”
