Gliwice, Poland — 29 September 2026
Autonomous Systems will present the Polish edition of its report “The State of Smart Depots 2026” at TRANSEXPO in Kielce, Poland (14–16 October, hall 9, stand 9-A01). The report shows how much driver time depot manoeuvres take and how that time can go back into passenger service. At the stand, the company will also present SmartDEPOT™, the key system in every smartbus: a city bus that performs its depot manoeuvres on its own.
How much driver time do depot manoeuvres take?
According to the report, parking, driving to chargers, washing and lining up for departure take on average 25 to 35 minutes per bus per day in the European depots assessed. The assessments included depots in Poland. Even with a cautious assumption of 25 minutes per bus, a 100-bus depot can recover more than 41 driver-hours a day. That equals 4–5 extra driver shifts in passenger service every day. This matters as the driver shortage grows: according to the International Road Transport Union (IRU), Europe has about 105,000 unfilled bus and coach driver positions, around 10% of the workforce.
“Operators ask us where autonomy can bring benefits today. Our answer is the depot,” said Jan Gramatyka, Co-CEO of Autonomous Systems. “It is a fenced site, buses move at 10 km/h, and the regulatory path is shorter than in city traffic. Every minute recovered in the depot is a driver minute for passengers.”
What is in “The State of Smart Depots 2026”?
The report presents the smart depot as a practical answer to the driver shortage and to the growing complexity of electric fleets. It covers three pillars: integrated depot management systems, smart charging and autonomous bus manoeuvres. It includes a maturity model that helps operators assess the readiness of their own depot, a business case and case studies from across Europe. It also covers safety: large manually operated depots record 3–4 minor collisions a week, most often while reversing and late in the evening, when traffic and fatigue are highest.
Depot autonomy case study at UITP Academy in Hamburg
Before the fair, on 6 October, Jan Gramatyka will lead a case study on depot autonomy in Hamburg. The session is part of the UITP Academy training “Automated Mobility in Public Transport”, which UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, runs together with the Hamburg operator Hamburger Hochbahn. The trainers are practitioners who work on deployments of automated vehicles.
TRANSEXPO 2026: hall 9, stand 9-A01
At the fair, operators can talk to the team about a readiness assessment of their own depot within the Smartbus Onboard Program.
Download the report: The State of Smart Depots 2026. Also available in Polish, German, Spanish and French.