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The district of Kelheim and the city of Monheim am Rhein have developed into well-established test areas for automated driving in recent years and are, therefore, the ideal locations for the first trips with highly automated Level 4 vehicles. The experiences from both operating areas flow into our SAFESTREAM project and provide an enormous advantage over newly set up projects.
The automated electric shuttles from the vehicle manufacturer EasyMile are already in operation on various routes in the Kelheim district and in Monheim am Rhein. The diversity of the operated test tracks enables the testing of the autonomous shuttles in heterogeneous operational environments. This way, we were already able to gain practical experience in as many different traffic situations as possible.
District of Kelheim
The district of Kelheim is located north of Munich in the geographical center of Bavaria. Covering an area of 1066.9 km², the district includes 24 municipalities and a total of around 124,000 inhabitants. It is the first district in Germany to operate automated electric shuttles in public spaces. These have been part of public transport since 2020 and are available to the district’s citizens free of charge. In 2022, the automated shuttles were integrated into the KEXI on-demand service. The district of Kelheim sees autonomous driving as a sustainable mobility solution and plays a pioneering role throughout Germany in this regard.
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Before SAFESTREAM:
For visitors to the Weltenburg Abbey…
…an approx. 2 km long route in Weltenburg was operated with an autonomous shuttle until 2022, which connected the monastery to public transport. The operation of this route was limited to the highly frequented summer.
In the old town of Kelheim…
…an autonomous shuttle travelled a 1.8 km circular route from October to April until 2022. This route served both commuter traffic and tourist destinations.
In Abensberg…
…a 2.2 km long route was operated all year round until 2022, which the autonomous shuttle travelled in a so-called metro operation. The route led through Abensberg between the train station, the Kuchlbauer Tower and the city center.
In 2021, the KelRide project started…
…with the aim of operating the automated vehicles safely under all weather conditions and integrating them into the public transport network. By 2023, a total of five autonomous vehicles will be integrated into the existing on-demand traffic KEXI.
Route
The approx. 6.6 km long route connects all important points of the city of Kelheim. It begins at Donaupark, goes over the Danube to the old town and further north, where the shopping center and hospital are approached. The autonomous operation on this route will be integrated into the existing on-demand traffic KEXI. A trip can then be easily booked via the KEXI app or telephone. The autonomous shuttles are available to everyone free of charge.
Monheim am Rhein
With around 45,000 inhabitants, Monheim am Rhein is a small, medium-sized city located directly on the Rhine between Düsseldorf and Cologne. Since 2016, the city has been consistently carrying out its own digitalization strategy “Monheim 4.0.” In addition to a comprehensive fiber optic network for fast internet and free Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city as well as the introduction of a digital citizenship card, the Monheim Pass, which can be used, among other things, as a digital library card and free public transport ticket in the city area, the implementation of a partially automated bus line (A01) in public space is one of the city’s flagship projects. Monheim am Rhein is thus doing pioneering work in the field of networked and autonomous mobility.
© Lars Böhme
Before SAFESTREAM:
An integral part of Monheim’s public transport
Since 2020, Line A01 has complemented the dense Monheim public transport network with automated shuttles and connected the central bus station “Monheim Mitte” with the old town and the health campus as a medical care center.
Living lab for autonomous driving
With an average of 2,000 passengers per month and more than 180,000 kilometers travelled so far (Q2 2023), the operation of Line A01 already shows today what future mobility could look like.
Smart City Monheim am Rhein
Line A01 is part of Monheim am Rhein’s Smart City initiative and makes digitalization and innovative power tangible for all citizens. The automated line operation is flanked by other research projects such as SHOW.
Fully implemented in the operation
The automated shuttles are entirely implemented in the operation of Bahnen der Stadt Monheim. This ranges from vehicle dispatching, operator training to workshop processes.
© Tim Kögler Fotografie
Route
Over a distance of 1.7 kilometers, the Altstadtstromer connect the central bus station with the historic old town. The main route also connects the health campus on Alte Schulstraße to public transport and runs through the historic Schelmenturm. Line A01 runs on the main route every 15 or 10 minutes, 7 days a week. So taking a ride is child’s play: Simply come to one of the stops on line A01 with a regular valid public transport ticket and, in just a few minutes, drive automated through Monheim am Rhein.
Contact
Donaupark 12, 93309 Kelheim
Partner
