[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- South Korea's transport ministry has launched research projects to stimulate the development of autonomous vehicle technology for freight trucks and buses. Of 45 vehicles, which have received temporary licenses for the test of autonomous driving, four are buses and there are no self-driving freight vehicles.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport said in a statement on Wednesday that it will develop an autonomous vehicle-based public transportation system and vehicle to everything (V2X)-based platoon driving technology for freight vehicles. V2X uses mobile networks to connect vehicles to traffic lights and moving vehicles.
The project involving SK Telecom and Hyundai Motor is aimed at developing self-driving buses and establishing control towers. Researchers will develop platoon driving technology for freight trucks.
The ministry plans to build two buses and freight trucks for test driving next year and operate more than eight buses and four trucks by 2021. KT, the country's largest telecom company, carried out the test run of its autonomous buses at the venue of this year's Winter Olympics in the eastern ski resort of Pyeongchang in February. The telecom giant seeks to commercialize its buses by 2020.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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