First Permit to Operate an Autonomous Bus on Urban Public Roads Granted to Imagry

Nahariya is the first city in Israel where autonomous buses will be operating on a commercial urban route in mixed traffic.

The permit allows Imagry, a software developer of autonomous driving solutions, in collaboration with the country’s third-largest public transportation operator Nateev Express, to operate an autonomous bus on a public road in mixed traffic. This groundbreaking project was promoted jointly by the Ministry of Transportation and the Israel Innovation Authority. It is a significant milestone on a global level, because in other autonomous bus projects around the world the autonomous bus is authorized to travel only in operational zones, or in a dedicated lane.

Initially the bus will operate with the presence of a safety driver, who will verify the proper functioning of the autonomous system and be prepared to take over driving responsibility if needed. This first stage of the pilot is being carried out without passengers on board. Once the cyber security rating has been achieved, proving that the computing systems cannot be hacked and that the bus cannot be controlled remotely, passengers will be allowed to board the vehicle. In the final stage of the pilot, after driving a total of 100,000 autonomous kilometers on the route (with a several buses) and providing safety records that meet the satisfaction of the governing authority, the bus will be permitted to operate in a fully autonomous mode, with passengers on board and without an accompanying driver.

A control center, equipped with monitoring devices and 2-way voice communication capabilities, will be established to ensure the well-being of the passengers and the vehicle. In the event of passenger distress or technical difficulties with the vehicle, the control center can send a recommendation to the autonomous bus to find the closest safe place to pull out of traffic and wait for a service vehicle.

The pilot is taking place on Line 5 of Nateev Express in Nahariya, an eight-kilometer route that starts and ends at the Nahariya Mall. The route passes through a central area of ​​the city with many roundabouts, pedestrian crosswalks, and traffic lights.

The autonomous bus used in this pilot carries up to 32 passengers and includes an electric ramp to allow wheelchair-bound passengers to enter and exit the bus. The pilot will include driving under various road conditions, different visibility and weather conditions, and dealing with unexpected events on the way. The electric bus can travel up to 200 kilometers on a single charge.

Public transport is a logical first step for autonomous driving developers because it moves on fixed routes and in a defined geographical environment. While many companies in Israel and around the world are engaged in the development of private autonomous vehicles, including Imagry, the first autonomous vehicles that were approved for driving on public roads were actually taxis (“robotaxis”) which have already been operating in recent years in several cities in the U.S. and China.