Autonomous shuttle FLASH starts pilot operation

District Administrator of Nordsachsen Kai Emanuel, Ines Fröhlich, State Secretary for Digitalisation and Mobility at Saxony’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, and IAV CEO Matthias Kratzsch launched the pilot operation of the self-driving bus, which can transport up to 20 passengers. FLASH is driving now every Thursday to Sunday between the Rackwitz S-Bahn station and Schladitzer Bucht, which is thus connected to the public transport network for the first time. The journey takes around 15 minutes.

Already in test operation, the shuttle will travel automatically at up to 70 kilometres per hour. For safety reasons, however, a vehicle attendant will be on board at all times and can switch from automatic to manual operation. In the FLASH project, which started in 2019, the IAV team was responsible for converting the bus to autonomous driving mode and for ensuring the reliability of the entire vehicle.
After completing the pilot phase in 2023, FLASH is to be integrated into the district’s regular scheduled services.