Autonomous Systems, based in Poland, has developed SmartDEPOT, an automated driving system for city buses. In May 2026 Autonomous Systems has performed an autonomy readiness assessment at the bus depot "Garage West", one of GVB’s three bus depots in Amsterdam and concluded that the has identified depot movements may be suitable for automation.
Instead of the depot staff driving each bus by hand into the depot and on charging spots "Depot-first autonomy" gives this work to the bus itself. The buses are therefore equipped with SmartDEPOT developed by Autonomous Systems. The bus will drive into the depot and parks itself moving on mapped routes. The assessment groups the movements potentially suited to automation at Garage West into three sets: the daily movement from the buffer zone through the wash facility to the parking position under the pantograph; workshop call-ups and returns; shunting movements, including end-of-shift repositioning. Autonomous Systems emphasizes that the GVB depot processes are already fully digital and that GVB provided access to the depot and operational information required for the assessment.
GVB is the Dutch capitals public transport company. In the operating concept discussed on site, the driver would leave the bus just inside the entry gate, and the "smartbus" performs all further depot movements. The existing depot dispatcher supervises them through Mission Control, the SmartDEPOT supervisory application. Charging through the pantograph starts as soon as the smartbus parks, with no staff involved. According to Autonomous Systems the advantages are amongst others: A potential reduction in low-speed collisions; More efficient use of depot capacity; Reduced time spent by depot staff on routine vehicle movements. “Operators across Europe are short of drivers and depot staff, so every depot movement a smartbus makes by itself matters,” said Jan Gramatyka, Co-CEO of Autonomous Systems.