The Upper Austrian Transport Association is participating as a project partner in the Austria-wide FFG lead project ROBERTA (Real wOrld automated Bus opERaTion Austria), which is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) with 3.5 million euros, and expressly welcomes the initiative to integrate highly automated buses into public transport. The project with 19 partners from the fields of transport, science and business across Austria under the leadership of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria is laying important foundations for the safe, user-orientated and practical integration of innovative mobility solutions into existing transport services. The pilot region in Upper Austria will be Hagenberg and Pregarten.
As part of ROBERTA, the Upper Austrian Transport Association is supporting the detailed planning of the pilot route in Upper Austria, particularly with regard to questions of routing, operating form (scheduled or on-demand transport) and operating times. In addition, the pilot application will be integrated into the transport association's passenger information and sales organisation. The Upper Austrian Transport Association is also implementing targeted communication measures on the content and progress of the project and providing information on the pilot operation via existing transport information systems such as apps, websites and electronic media.
Four pilot projects will be launched throughout Austria in the fourth quarter of 2027 or the first quarter of 2028 as part of the research project. Hagenberg and Pregarten were chosen for the pilot region in Upper Austria. The rapidly growing educational and business location is already reaching its capacity limits. From the start of operations, an approximately ten-kilometre-long last-mile connection from Pregarten railway station to the Hagenberg Software Park, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and the Hagenberg Agricultural Education Centre will be integrated into the regular service and scientifically monitored for one year.
"Autonomous driving is an important building block in the vision of tomorrow's mobility. Especially as a feeder to the OÖ. Regionalbahnen, this technology opens up new opportunities to better network services and thus open up new potential for public transport. The decisive factor here is not only to develop innovations, but also to test them in real operations. The Pregarten-Hagenberg region is particularly well suited for this. With the Upper Austrian Transport Association, we also have a strong and reliable partner to successfully bring such pilot projects into practice in public transport in Upper Austria together with the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences," says Günther Steinkellner, Provincial Councillor for Mobility and Infrastructure.
"Automated buses have great potential to further develop public transport in urban and rural regions. ROBERTA is an important step towards testing new technologies under real-life conditions and making them usable for passengers. We are contributing our experience in planning, coordination and communication in a targeted manner and are delighted to be actively involved in shaping this future-oriented project," emphasises Klaus Wimmer, Managing Director of OÖ Verkehrsverbund Gesellschaft.
Comprehensive information on the ROBERTA research project can be found on the website of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria: https://fh-ooe.at/news/landesrat-achleitner-landesrat-steinkellner-roberta-bringt-automatisierte-busse-erstmals-in-den-regulaeren-linienverkehr
By participating in ROBERTA, the Upper Austrian Transport Association is making an important contribution to the further development of modern, reliable and sustainable mobility services in Upper Austria.