Three months following its launch; Deutsche Bahn (DB) & Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV)’s KIRA project has been expanded to now include the northern and western districts of Darmstadt.
The project, which initially began serving passengers within the city of Langen, as well as the municipality of Egelsbach in the Offenbach district, will now offer six self-driving vehicles in a major city for the first time.
The project has now been expanded to include the northern and western districts of Darmstadt
© DB AG / Oliver Lang
Newly added stops within Darmstadt include the main train station, Pallaswiesenstraße in the Johannesviertel district, and the Nordbad/Bürgerpark, with trips between Langen, Egelsbach, and Darmstadt also possible.
Since the test drives were first introduced in Langen and Egelsbach at the end of May; more than 1,000 registered users have been approved for the pilot, with passengers having trialled the service thus far rating their journeys with an average of 4.5 points out of 5.
Those interested in travelling on the KIRA unit can register through the project’s dedicated app.
Dr. Arne Schneemann, Board Member of DB Regio Straße:, said:
The KIRA project has already provided important insights into how we can make public transport more flexible and better through the intelligent integration of different modes of transport. We are also gaining valuable experience in the operation of autonomous vehicles.
The positive evaluations of the test drives show that we are on the right track.
KIRA (which stands for AI-based Regular Operation of Autonomous On-Demand Transport) is the first project in Germany to test Level 4 autonomous driving with passengers. The vehicles are operated by DB Regio Bus Mitte, with booking and route planning software provided by DB subsidiary ioki.
The test operation has been conducted with HEAG mobilo GmbH, as well as the Offenbach District Transport Company, and is currently scheduled to run until the end of 2025, with an extension now in the works.
Funding for the project has been provided by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) with a total of approximately 2.2 million EUR, as well as and from the State of Hesse.
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