If next year Wiener Neustadt becomes the venue of the Lower Austrian Provincial Exhibition with the motto „World in Motion“, then the so-called „Digibus-Austria“ will also be part of it. From May 2019 until the summer months, demo rides on the self-driving bus will be offered several days a week. “This is not about an additional tourist attraction. We want to use the state exhibition to gather scientific findings on the acceptance of self-driving vehicles”, explains Lower State Mobility Councilor Ludwig Schleritzko. Autonomous vehicles could be an important part of the mobility strategy. An exciting field of application is about the ‘last mile’ – speak the way from or to the junctions of public transport.

“Digibus Austria” is a lead project under the direction of Salzburg Research. The project with a total volume of 4.15 million euros is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology within the framework of the “Future Mobility” funding scheme. Lower Austria is an associated partner in this project. “Worldwide, there are only a few projects that aim to systematically advance automated shuttles to higher levels”, explains Dr. Karl Rehrl from Salzburg Research. “The project will set the stage for the achievement of level 4 (high automation) and thus further development to the next level of automation.”

Stadtrat Franz Dinhobl, Mobilitätslandesrat Ludwig Schleritzko, Bürgermeister Klaus Schneeberger und Dr. Karl Rehrl von Salzburg Research © NLK Pfeiffer

More information about Digibus Austria: www.digibus.at