Lilee Systems to launch first autonomous buses for public transportation in Taiwan

Lilee Systems has received the first permit for self-driving bus commercial services on two designated bus lines in Tainan, Taiwan.

The self-driving fleet, subsidized by the Ministry of Transportation, will generate new revenues to the city’s public transit systems by providing two regular bus services in the science park and between the high-speed railway station and the nearby university, exhibition center and large outlet mall.

This milestone of the innovative autonomous rapid transit system has been achieved through partnership with Kasion Green Energy, Taiwan’s sole distributor of BYD vehicles, and Tainan Bus, one of the largest bus operators servicing over 23-million passengers per year.

Selected by the Tainan City Government and Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation, Lilee Systems, Kasion Green Energy and Tainan Bus have signed a memorandum of cooperation in creating a new smart transportation model that realizes true driverless driving of urban buses. The commercial services will begin on September 2021 using the BYD K6 bus fleet.

Ming-Te Wang, director of Tainan’s Bureau of Transportation, says: “Launching the autonomous rapid transit system with Lilee Systems is a key milestone of our smart transportation development.

“We are excited to roll our self-driving buses to expand the city’s public transportation services and improve safety and efficiency.”

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA, Lilee Systems specializes in advanced transportation safety software and is the leading technology provider of autonomous driving solutions that deliver AI-based object detection, precision positioning, HD-Map and path planning. The self-driving system is monitored by a cloud-based operations control center for an extra layer of safety.

Jia-Ru Li, CEO of Lilee Systems, says: “Autonomous driving reduces the operating cost of labor and fuel, the two biggest expenses of bus operations. It can effectively solve urban transportation issues of driver shortages and improves safety by avoiding human errors.

“Through close government-industry collaborations, we are confident that the autonomous rapid transit system will become a sustainable public transportation mode for the future.”