VDV on German strategy for autonomous driving: market maturity in 2027, funding are needed to scale up volumes

German public transport companies organization VDV welcomes the Federal Ministry of Transport’s strategy paper and calls for an investment offensive for ‘Level 4’.

Market maturity with the first combinations of vehicle and level 4 autonomous driving system in Germany is expected by 2027, according to the VDV. “Then we need to guarantee four-digit purchase quantities by means of targeted funding from the new federal government as public transport for the industry so that the vehicles can also be produced in large numbers in Germany with the associated effects”, says VDV President Ingo Wortmann.

VDV on German strategy for autonomous driving

The VDV industry association welcomes the ‘Strategy of the Federal Government for autonomous driving in road transport’ drawn up by the Federal Ministry of Transport under the title ‘The future is autonomous driving’.

In order to improve the position of the German industry on the global market, there should be a European project for a joint Level 4 self-driving system so as not to become dependent on this important innovation lead market, according to the industry association.

It’s worth noticing that by 2030, there could be up to 10,000 autonomous shuttles on Hamburg’s roads. That’s the goal of an agreement between the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

VDV President Ingo Wortmann emphasises: “Both the strategic focus on local public transport and the formulated objectives are appropriate: local public transport can, may and should drive autonomously in certain service areas in the future, enhancing its advantages and reducing personnel and cost problems. The so-called ‘Level 4’ with its limitations to locally defined applications is precisely the safe stage of development that is sufficient for use in regular and scheduled services. The goals set out in the strategy, such as services of general interest and social participation, as well as the advantages in terms of energy and space efficiency of public transport, are described exactly right in the BMDV paper. We must now move as quickly as possible to scaling implementation in the next legislative period”, demands the VDV President.

“We need an expansion of public transport services in order to achieve the improvements in transport performance and climate protection targets desired by the population and the economy. As we already have too few train drivers and bus drivers, autonomous transport is also an important step towards being able to expand services efficiently and with existing staffing levels”, concludes Wortmann.