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EZ10 autonomous shuttles increase mobility in rural town with connection to train station

A fleet of EZ10 autonomous shuttles solve the first-last mile challenge on public roads in a rural setting - bringing enhanced mobility to the community.

Driverless mobility service for community and spa guests 

EasyMile, in collaboration with ioki, a subsidiary company of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) has been operating the first autonomous shuttle driving on public roads in the European country since October 2017. For their project in Bad Birnbach, EasyMile and ioki work closely together with the regional bus company (Regionalbus Ostbayern (RBO), the district of Rottal-Inn, TÜV Süd, and the local community.

Cars are traditionally the main way people get around in rural areas, but it is important to offer those living outside of towns and cities an alternative that is convenient, as well as energy and cost-efficient.  Autonomous shuttles are the perfect innovative public transport solution in such rural areas. 

As mobility is one of the major challenges in these environments, driverless technology can respond by overcoming the first-last mile issues it presents. As a rural but also thermal town, Bad Birnbach sees a lot of visitors arriving by train and so the need for mobility is particularly important.

Autonomous technology in electric vehicles for rural regional areas is the future

Autonomous driving on public roads in Germany has reached the next big milestone. In the Bavarian thermal town of Bad Birnbach, driverless shuttles now connect the train station to the town center via a 4km country road. The subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (DB) for innovative mobility solutions, ioki, overcomes the first-last mile problem for arriving spa guests and provides an opportunity for the community to use new means of transportation.  

The electric and driverless EZ10 shuttles ensure an innovative and zero-emission transport connection to all train links, by covering a distance of 4 km and including a ground-breaking traffic control system to ensure safe and fluid conditions.

Extension of the route 

Since the project’s start in 2017, more than 40,000 passengers have already been transported and more than 21,000 km have been driven autonomously. The EZ10 driverless shuttles have run daily without incident, between the town center and the Bad Birnbach railway station. 

After a successful 2 years, in late-2019 the service was extended to reach the old town of Bad Birnbach. This shows how EasyMile’s solution responds perfectly to the community’s needs and is fully integrated into daily life.

With this project, EasyMile and its partners have been real change-makers for autonomous driving and have expertly mastered numerous technical and legal complexities.

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