Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), Deutsche Bahn Regio and Holon have begun preparations for KIRA+, a project testing SAE Level 4 autonomous driving in scheduled local public transport. Initial mapping drives are set for 2027 in parts of Darmstadt and the district of Offenbach, covering service areas of local operators HEAG mobilo and Kreisverkehrsgesellschaft Offenbach. The project builds directly on the predecessor scheme KIRA, which runs until the end of 2026, reusing existing infrastructure such as the control center.
The test vehicle is the Holon urban, an accessible platform fitted with Mobileye's autonomous driving technology. In its test configuration it seats five passengers plus one wheelchair space, or three passengers when the wheelchair space is occupied. Safety personnel will remain on board throughout Level 4 operation. Ride booking and dispatching will run through Ioki's app, which pools requests and optimizes routing — a scalability test that DB Regio says will also cover control-center supervision and accessibility requirements under real operating conditions.
KIRA+ is one of five test fields under MILA.mobility, a BMFTR-funded programme developing a shared middleware architecture to connect vehicle, fleet-dispatch and control-center software for autonomous public transport.
For Holon, the deployment marks its third public-road trial in Germany after Hamburg and Paderborn. RMV and DB Regio describe the longer-term goal as a defined model region where autonomous shuttles operate at scale within regular transit service, rather than as isolated pilots.
Source: ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International — read the original article