Germany’s third-largest municipal bus operator VHH Mobility and automotive engineering company IAV have agreed to develop an autonomous vehicle is to roll through the streets of Harburg in 2025

The partner for the construction and supply of the autonomous shuttles is vehicle developer eVersum, a pioneer in autonomous electric commercial vehicles.

Five vehicles will be developed and supplied. The first with a safety driver on board is scheduled to go into test operation on Harburg’s streets in the second half of 2025. In the following months, the other shuttles will gradually be put into operation and start serving in the fleet of the HVV Hop on-demand service between Hamburg and Harburg. In the future, the number of autonomous vehicles is to be increased to up to 20.

“The road ahead for fully autonomous shuttles as part of public transport in Germany is still a long one and real pioneering work,” said Lorenz Kasch, managing director of VHH (Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein) Mobility (vhh-mobility.de). “Today, we have taken a big step towards this goal.”

Carsten Rinka, projects officer at IAV (Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr, www.iav.com), added: “We are driving autonomous driving forward and creating innovative mobility offers that rethink public transport. This project is another significant step towards sustainable and future-proof mobility.”

The objective of the Ahoi (automation of the Hamburg on-demand service with integration into public transport) project is to operate the autonomous vehicles at what is known as level four, where the vehicles transport their passengers safely and quickly from A to B without a driver.

“The basis for the autonomous shuttles in the Ahoi project is eVersum’s modular e-shuttle in the 6.9-metre-long version with nine seats and additional space for a wheelchair or stroller,” said Holger Postl, managing director of eVersum (www.eversum.com). “After the first successful deployments of such semi-autonomous vehicles in Mannheim and Friedrichshafen, we are very much looking forward to working with VHH Mobility and IAV to bring as many passengers as possible to their destination safely and comfortably.”

Mobility experts consider autonomously operated means of transport to be a promising approach to implementing the mobility turnaround, particularly in view of challenges such as the shortage of skilled workers and the economic operation of public transport. The Federal Ministry of Digital & Transport is supporting the project with around €18m.

“Together with our partners, we are doing pioneering work in Hamburg to develop the public transport system of the future,” said Anjes Tjarks, senator for transport and mobility in Hamburg. “Through the cooperation between VHH Mobility, IAV, eVersum, federal government and the city, we are taking a further important step towards developing and establishing an additional pillar of public transport in the south of Hamburg. Hamburg is a pioneer here. We are not only further developing autonomous driving in the urban centre, but also in the outer districts, thus ensuring that all areas of the city are even more closely connected in terms of traffic by modern, innovative mobility.”

Kasch added: “When the vehicles are delivered, we will begin test operations with safety drivers on board and no passengers in the second phase of the Ahoi project. As soon as all requirements have been developed to our satisfaction, we will then open scheduled operations with the autonomous vehicles for our passengers in the Harburg service area in phase three, and this in addition to the manually controlled HVV Hop shuttles.”

The basis for the operation with autonomous vehicles in the Ahoi project is HVV Hop, which was introduced in 2018 as Germany’s first suburban on-demand service. HVV Hop has already transported over 1.5 million passengers across all service areas. In Harburg, it is also very popular. Since its launch in January 2023, more than 340,000 passengers have been brought to their destination.

After careful analysis, the Harburg district was selected as the project area. The urban area has a range of transport options, including S-Bahn and bus lines. However, the district has areas that are not yet sufficiently served by public transport.

“Under these conditions, the use of a flexible and innovative on-demand service makes sense, closing gaps in the public transport network and offering an alternative to private cars, thus connecting even more people to the existing public transport network,” said Kasch. “We are very pleased that HVV Hop has been so well received and would now like to take the service to the next level together with our partners: HVV Hop will become autonomous.”