KT Becomes First to Obtain Permit for Urban Autonomous Driving for 45-Seater Large Bus
Precise control within approximately 25cm is required, introducing 5G and LTE-based V2X methods.

KT announced that it has obtained the first permit in Korea from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the autonomous operation of a 45-passenger large bus. With this permit, the large autonomous bus can operate on both expressways and general urban roads.

KT had already received permission to operate a 25-seater autonomous bus on public roads for the first time in Korea last September, and has now obtained permission for autonomous driving of a 45-seater large bus in urban areas.

With this, KT has been able to conduct operational tests in the public transportation sector, where autonomous driving is expected to be introduced first, and has also gained a competitive edge in the future competition for Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) projects to be built in urban areas.

In particular, KT's large autonomous bus is a 45-passenger vehicle with a body length of 12 meters and a width of 2.5 meters. To operate the large bus while maintaining the minimum lane width of 3 meters on ordinary roads, precise control within a hand span (approximately 25 cm) to the left and right is required. KT has introduced a V2X (Vehicle-to-everything) autonomous driving method based on 5G and LTE networks to ensure perfect operational control of large buses, which are larger than small buses.

With this method, in addition to existing sensors such as LiDAR and cameras, driving safety is dramatically improved through precision positioning technology with an accuracy of a few centimeters using KT's wireless network, situation judgment capabilities through V2X vehicle communication infrastructure, traffic light recognition distance, and blind spot risk prediction functions.

Through this, KT's autonomous bus has completed preparations for autonomous driving in complex urban areas by stably performing not only high-speed autonomous driving at over 70 km/h, but also driving on curves and left/right turns, pedestrian detection, and traffic light synchronization.

Moving forward, KT plans to secure various operational data for autonomous driving on highways and in urban areas through the test operation of large autonomous buses, and utilize it for the development of V2X-based cooperative autonomous driving services, such as platooning, and C-ITS infrastructure technologies. In addition, there are plans to operate autonomous buses at Pangyo Zero City, an autonomous driving demonstration complex, this year.

Meanwhile, KT has been collaborating with domestic and international vehicle manufacturers, Unmanned Solution, and the Institute of Advanced Technology at Seoul National University since 2015 to develop autonomous driving technology, and is leading technology development by participating in the 5G Automotive Alliance (5GAA), a global organization for 5G-based autonomous driving.

Based on this cooperation, we have developed 5G autonomous passenger cars and 5G autonomous small buses (25-seater), and have conducted verification and public demonstrations of various autonomous driving services, such as 5G communication, V2X, vehicle control, and big data analysis/prediction, on our own testbed, side roads, and actual roads. Based on this know-how, we have also won the 'Pangyo Zero City' project, the world's first autonomous driving demonstration complex for residential areas.

Jeon Hong-beom, Head of the Infrastructure Research Institute at KT's Convergence Technology Institute, stated, "KT will secure optimal wireless infrastructure technology for the commercialization of autonomous driving by test-driving not only autonomous passenger cars but also autonomous buses, which have a high potential for actual commercialization." He added, "We will continue to take the lead in the commercialization of autonomous driving by collaborating with vehicle manufacturers and participating in pilot projects for cooperative intelligent transportation systems with local governments."