Driverless public transport has great potential to bring change in hard-to-access areas, a Berlin-based mobility specialist said on Wednesday, as Germany launched its first driverless electrical bus line to operate in traffic.

"The first usable vehicles that are undertaking their initial trials are now available from very few providers," said Andreas Knie, a researcher with a Berlin centre for research into mobility concepts, said.

"They are able to go where classical buses cannot. They can fill gaps, they can manage the famous last mile perfectly," Knie said, sharing his optimism.

Such buses would be useful in rural areas and small towns without the dense transport networks of large cities, he predicted.

Driverless buses have been tested in countries around the world, Estonia to Australia. While one autonomous bus trial in Vienna was reportedly delayed after an accident, visionaries largely believe that buses will largely operate without human drivers in future.

The first driverless buses in Germany began operating in Monheim am Rhein in the state of North Rhine Westphalia in February. The five electrically powered minibuses link the bus station with the town centre, travelling the 2 kilometres every 15 minutes.

The buses are not yet fully autonomous, however. An operator on board takes over at complex intersections and monitors the rest of the trip.

In Bad Birnbach in Bavaria, a driverless bus has been running a route to the railway station since 2017, but not in normal traffic. Test projects are underway in Berlin, Munich and other German cities.

 - dpa