MAN puts 12-metre autonomous bus into Munich public service from 17 November

Over 2,000 registered passengers will ride a fully autonomous 12-metre MAN bus on Munich's route 178 from 17 November 2026. That date marks the MINGA project's shift out of technical testing and into public passenger operation, running weekdays until June 2027.

MAN Truck & Bus operates the electric Lion's City 12 E on MVG (Munich's municipal transport authority) scheduled service with technology partner Adastec. Safety drivers stay aboard throughout. Riders form a closed user group booked through MVG's service.

What hardware carries the autonomy stack?

The sensor set is five LiDAR (light detection and ranging), six radar units, eight cameras and satellite positioning. The bus seats around 30 passengers and carries a wheelchair space, sizing it for mainstream city routes rather than boutique pilot corridors.

The 16-partner project draws roughly €13m (US$15.2m) in federal funding. Technical University of Munich and the University of Stuttgart will survey riders on their sense of safety during the trials.

"With the first test rides, passengers can now experience our technology in everyday use," Dr Frederik Zohm, Executive Board Member for Research and Development at MAN Truck & Bus, said. "This is a decisive step."

"Alongside safe and reliable technology, autonomous vehicles also need people's trust, and that is what we want to earn," Zohm continued. "The experience we gain from the MINGA project will feed directly into the development of future vehicle generations and further applications. As a German commercial vehicle manufacturer, we are glad to be developing this technology in Europe for Europe, and to be carrying out the project with such a professional consortium."

Why does a full-size bus change the case?

Small autonomous shuttles have dominated European pilots for years. A 12-metre bus targets high-capacity scheduled services those shuttles cannot replace. Driver shortages bite hardest on exactly these urban routes, so automating the full-size segment gives operators a more direct answer to staffing gaps.

The labour savings, though, stay untested. Safety drivers remain aboard for the whole trial, so the project cannot yet measure the cost case that motivates it. That case depends on how many vehicles a single remote supervisor can oversee once onboard drivers disappear.

What does this change for Munich?

Munich could end up running two autonomy models at once. If Waymo's planned robotaxi service launches alongside MINGA's public buses, the city becomes an early real-world test of whether driverless technology strengthens public transport or competes with it.

For MAN, the trial feeds development of future vehicle generations and further applications, per Zohm. The German commercial vehicle maker is positioning the work as European technology developed for the European market.

What to watch next: the 17 November 2026 launch, rider-safety survey results from TUM and Stuttgart, and whether regulators allow driver removal — the milestone that turns the economics from theory into measurement.