Driven by the need to boost operational efficiencies, productivity, safety, and overall performance, bus fleet operators are turning to advanced autonomous technologies. While complete vehicle autonomy is still some distance away, advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) represent significant stepping stones on the journey to complete autonomy.
Today, we are seeing steady uptake of SAE Level 1 and Level 2 ADAS features in buses that support driver assistance and partial automation. By 2025, almost every major bus OEM in Europe and North America is set to offer Level 1 and Level 2 ADAS as either a standard or an optional feature. This is further fueled by General Safety Regulation (GSR) mandate in Europe from new commercial vehicle registrations from July 2024. Beyond tracking and monitoring, revenue prospects will be linked to services that span prognostics, asset management, and driver behavior management, among others.
To learn more, please see: Growth Opportunities for Bus ADAS in North America and Europe, Indian Commercial Vehicle Growth Opportunities, and Strategic Opportunities in the Global School Bus Market, or contact [email protected] for information on a private briefing.
Focus on Safety Allied with Regulatory Impetus Boosts Market Prospects
A clutch of key drivers is bolstering the prospects of the bus ADAS market in North America and Europe. For a start, changing electrical/electronic vehicle architecture is facilitating the shift from ADAS to autonomous vehicles (AVs). Such changes to in-vehicle architecture will enable ADAS features to be easily integrated either as standard, optional, or on-demand fitments.
With safety a key priority for buses, collision avoidance technologies will promote higher vehicle and road safety. This objective will be reinforced by regulatory impetus. Here, initiatives like the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and organizations like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in North America and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the EU will push market participants to integrate more advanced ADAS functions even as, more immediately, certain ADAS functions and safety features, such as advanced emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning (LDW), become mandatory.
A major challenge to market growth is the current high cost of ADAS features. While standardization will help drive mass market deployments, a focus on raising consumer awareness by highlighting the role of ADAS in enhancing productivity and performance as well as positive cost vs benefit outcomes will also boost uptake.
Today, there are an entire range of ADAS features that improve safety, performance, and efficiency. These span collision avoidance systems like blind spot assist (BSA), forward collision warning (FCW), and AEB; cruise assistance systems like adaptive cruise control (ACC) and predictive cruise control (PCC); steer assistance systems such as lane keep assist (LKA), lane change assist (LCA), and LDW; and park assistance systems, including reverse assist (RA), parking assist (PA), and depart assist (DA).
Trends both in North America and Europe indicate that safety enhancing features like FCW and AEB, along with steer assistance systems like LDW will grow rapidly and become standard across both transit and coach buses. Meanwhile, cruise and steer features will gain traction due to the rising demand for performance and safety in specific application areas. For instance, ACC will steadily penetrate MD and HD segments, while PCC will be leveraged in highway applications. Buoyed by these trends, the bus ADAS market in Europe and North America is projected to register a CAGR of 5.1% between 2022-2030.
Collaboration is Key
Till such time as full autonomy is realized, bus OEMs should make every effort to leverage growth opportunities in the ADAS market by offering fleet and driver-oriented features that increases productivity, and efficiency benefits.
Collaboration will be crucial to bolstering bus ADAS development. Strategic partnerships with technology companies and Tier I and II suppliers will accelerate ADAS functionalities. A focus on innovative, cost- effective solutions will motivate wider uptake. Simultaneously, investments in enabling infrastructure and the willingness to embrace new business models will maximize on the market’s growth potential.
Another aspect of collaboration will require OEMs to work with ecosystem stakeholders, including governments and insurance companies to establish regulatory clarity. From regulations on testing and validation to determining liability, the ability to build coherent regulatory frameworks will be pivotal to successful commercialization.
With inputs from Amrita Shetty, Senior Manager, Communications & Content – Mobility
