If you visit the Efteling theme park in the Netherlands, getting around will be much easier. Karsan started running its self-driving bus, the Otonom e-ATAK, for park visitors. This might work for you if you need a free, simple way to travel between the park’s main transport hubs and the Wonderhotel.

The bus travels a six-kilometer route in mixed traffic starting right from the main entrance. This is the very first autonomous bus to run on public roads in the North Brabant region. It is also fully accessible for disabled passengers.

Testing the Tech

The bus uses Level-4 self-driving technology. Karsan built this system in a partnership with a company called ADASTEC. The company is currently running this as a two-month pilot program. Following an official opening on August 10, the team is now looking closely at passenger feedback and operational data to see how it performs in the real world.

The collaboration involves Karsan, Efteling, Arriva, North Brabant Province, Loon op Zand Municipality, RDW, SmartwayZ.NL, Dutch Automated Mobility, Applied Autonomy, AON, and ADASTEC.

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Building the Autonomous Buses

The e-ATAK autonomous bus; Photo: Karsan

This isn’t Karsan’s first project in the country. It already operates a similar route at the Rotterdam The Hague Airport. The Otonom e-ATAK has carried over 100,000 passengers across 12 different countries, starting in the US in 2021 and moving into Europe in 2022.

Karsan builds these vehicles at a massive 203,000-square-meter facility in Hasanağa, Bursa. They have the capacity to make about 20,000 vehicles a year on a single shift. They offer a full lineup of electric commercial vehicles ranging from 6 to 18 meters, including the e-JEST, e-ATAK, Otonom e-ATAK, e-ATA, and e-ATA HYDROGEN.

“We are extremely proud that Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK has become the first autonomous bus to operate on public roads in the North Brabant region of the Netherlands. Following our operation at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, this second autonomous deployment in the Netherlands further strengthens our position in Europe with another important reference project,” Karsan CEO Utku Ayyarkın explained. “At Karsan, we do not simply anticipate the future of mobility; we make our advanced technology solutions part of everyday life. Through autonomous projects implemented across different countries and use cases, we are turning the future of public transportation into reality today.”