USA / Norwegian / Turkey – Turkish bus manufacturer, Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Tic. A.Ş based in Bursa, Turkey says it has been bidding on numerous European and North American autonomous electric bus contracts after two successful pilot projects of autonomous e-Atak* buses at Michigan State University, Michigan, USA and in real-time service operation on public roads in the town of Stavanger, Norway. Deniz Cetin, Chief Commercial Officer at Karsan Automotive & Board Member at Group Companies, speaking with Truck & Bus Builder (T&BB) at the 2023 Cenex event at the UTAC Group Millbrook Proving Ground held September 6-7, said that Karsan’s bids on autonomous electric bus contracts (tenders) were in the northern hemisphere, and that these were notably in Spain, Israel, Qatar and Canada.

The Karsan Level 4 autonomous e-ATAK 8-metre 22-seat (52 person) low-floor city bus is in operation on a 2.5-mile (4 km) route around the University campus in Michigan, operating Monday through Thursday, 9:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. The autonomous e-ATAK in Stavanger was bought in July 2022 and is operated by local transport operator, Kolumbus, for taking passengers on a defined route around the city centre. The Karsan e-ATAK is equipped with LiDAR sensors, radar technology, RGB cameras, and thermal cameras to autonomously detect its surroundings. It is automated using flowride.ai Level-4 automated driving software, supplied and installed by its US technology partner, Adastec. This allows the bus to travel without a driver on a planned route at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour. The vehicle is able to perform driverless operations, including approaching stops, managing stop times, managing the boarding and alighting of passengers, and navigating and responding to intersections, crossings, traffic circles, and traffic lights. It is able also to travel in all weather conditions, both day and night.