TIER IV Helps Adapt Autoware for Munich Autonomous City Bus

TIER IV and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) announced on November 11, 2026 that their Autoware research center will support development of an autonomous-driving system for a full-size city bus in Munich’s RISE project, which has up to €20 million in German federal funding.

Through the center, TUM will draw on experience from Autoware-based autonomous bus deployments in Japan to adapt the open-source software stack to a new vehicle platform and Munich’s urban operating environment. The announcement concerns development work rather than an already-operational driverless bus: real-world operations on MVG service routes remain planned and will have safety personnel on board.

Engineering and Public-Transport Testing

TUM is providing the sensor setup and developing the Autoware-based autonomous-driving system. MAN Truck & Bus is equipping the bus with autonomous-driving actuation and low-level software, placing responsibility for the vehicle’s underlying control systems with the manufacturer.

The bus work forms part of RISE, a TUM-led consortium project intended to lay the scientific, technical, organizational and regulatory groundwork for autonomous buses and shuttles to enter regular public-transport operation in the long run. The project also covers control centers, operational processes and digital infrastructure alongside vehicles, extending its scope beyond the driving software to the wider transit operating environment.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport approved the funding. TUM’s November 9, 2026 announcement of the opening of the German Center for Future Mobility’s Munich project site sets the RISE funding period from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2029.

Testing is planned to begin with controlled trials at a closed site in Ottobrunn, followed by real-world laboratory operations on two MVG routes. That sequence will move the project from a controlled environment into the operating conditions where its vehicle technology and transit processes can be examined together.

Beyond TUM and MAN, RISE’s core partners include the City of Munich, SWM, MVG, the Munich Transport and Fare Association, the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and UnternehmerTUM. The consortium connects research and vehicle development with municipal and public-transport organizations involved in preparing autonomous mobility for routine use.

Research Center’s Open-Source Role

The bus initiative is an early application of the TUM Autoware Research Center by TIER IV, established through a multi-year strategic research collaboration announced on October 15, 2026. Supported by strategic research funding from TIER IV, the center brings together TUM’s Chair of Automotive Technology and its professorships for Cyber-Physical Systems and Autonomous Vehicle Systems. Its agenda covers safety, evaluation and scalability, including combining learning-based driving models with rule-based supervision and developing tests across simulation, offline analysis and real-world operation.

“The research center was established to help TUM connect open research with real-world deployment,” said Shinpei Kato, founder and CEO of TIER IV.

Findings from the bus system’s integration and real-world testing are intended to inform Autoware and related evaluation methods, with outcomes contributed to the open-source ecosystem where appropriate. The partners aim to establish a repeatable path for adapting Autoware to European vehicle platforms and practical mobility applications.

The central question is whether the center can turn experience from Japanese bus deployments into repeatable methods for European vehicle platforms, while the planned Munich trials examine how Autoware fits into supervised public-transport operations.