Gliwice, Poland — 23 October 2026
SmartDEPOT™ by Autonomous Systems was one of 6 finalists at the MUBIL Mobility Awards 2026, the start-up awards of MUBIL Fundazioa (Gipuzkoa, Basque Country). The ceremony took place in Donostia-San Sebastián on 22 October 2026. Jan Gramatyka, Co-CEO of Autonomous Systems, presented the depot-first approach in a 3-minute pitch. Autonomous Systems (Gliwice, Poland) develops SmartDEPOT™, an autonomous driving system that lets city buses drive themselves inside the depot, and SmartDEPOT™ Mission Control, the operator’s control centre for smartbuses.
What is a smartbus, and how does it differ from an autonomous or self-driving bus?
A smartbus is a bus that drives itself inside the depot – without a driver. smartbus = ordinary bus + SmartDEPOT™. The bus is built and serviced by its manufacturer as before, with SmartDEPOT™ fitted in the factory. On public roads, pilots still run with a safety driver on board, and a bus with a safety driver is not autonomous — it is simply a more expensive bus. Outside the depot, the driver drives the smartbus as today.
Why bus autonomy starts in the depot
Every city bus day starts and ends in the depot. Inside it, the bus drives empty, at low speed, on a known layout, under remote supervision; if anything is unclear, it stops. At MZA Warsaw, drivers spend about 35 minutes a day manoeuvring each bus inside the depot: parking, charging approach, washing and repositioning. The figure varies with depot layout and fleet. A smartbus takes over those moves, and that time returns to line service. That matters as the driver shortage grows: the IRU counted about 105,000 unfilled bus and coach driver positions in Europe in 2023, about 10% of the workforce.
The 3 minutes on stage
From the pitch
“A regular bus with a driver becomes a very expensive bus with a driver and an engineer. Hundreds of millions have been spent. Still, we haven’t moved beyond demos.”
“Inside the depot, the world is clearer. Gates control access. Movements are predictable and repeatable. That’s exactly where autonomy can do solid work every day.”
“No more pilots for the sake of pilots. Start with one bus. […] Add vehicles when it pays back.”
Jan Gramatyka, Co-CEO of Autonomous Systems, at the MUBIL Mobility Awards 2026, Donostia, 22 October 2026.
The argument from the pitch, in text: What is depot-first autonomy, and why does it matter for public transport operators?
Download the report: The State of Smart Depots 2026.
Recording: MUBIL Fundazioa. Thank you to MUBIL for the stage and the conversations in Donostia.