The Transportation Ministry released the world’s first set of safety guidelines for self-driving buses last Friday. The ministry emphasized the guideline’s inclusion of relevant content outside of public bus systems, such as passenger safety, recommending it as a reference for all self-driving vehicles.
Regulations regarding technological unmanned vehicle testing were formulated in 2018, with plans for actual testing released in 2019. Focusing on developing self-driving public transportation, the Transportation Ministry established a relevant committee for autonomous vehicles in 2021, also commissioning the Vehicle Safety Certification Center (VSCC) to develop a set of guidelines for self-driving public buses.
Technology and Information Department Director Huang Hsin-hsun (黃新薰) oversaw the official release of version 1.0 of the guidelines on Friday with VSCC Chief Executive Officer Chou Wei-kuo (周維果), introducing international safety standards and linking domestic vehicle regulations with foreign ones. The content includes seven major chapters, including basic vehicle safety, operation safety assessment, network security, and automation safety.
Chou pointed out that these regulations are the first of their kind in the world, and said that self-driving buses will play a part in realizing the Transportation Ministry’s goal to completely electrify city bus services by 2030.
The Transportation Ministry said it will continue analyzing international trends and making rolling revisions to improve the environment surrounding self-driving technology production. The ministry also said it will cooperate with the testing team to move Taiwan’s self-driving vehicles past the experimental stage.