Oslo’s ambition to reshape its transport system around cleaner, more flexible mobility has taken a new step through a partnership with Volkswagen that will bring an autonomous ID.Buzz fleet to the city’s streets from 2026. Once again, the Norwegian capital is positioning itself as an early adopter of technologies that many European cities embrace far more slowly.
The capital’s transport authority, Ruter, and the Scandinavian operator Holo have turned to MOIA, Volkswagen’s mobility arm, to supply them with self-driving electric minibuses to boost commercial ride-hailing in Oslo. These rides will be open to book from spring 2026.
From pilot to reality
For the city’s citizens, a driverless ID.Buzz isn’t a new sight, as the decision builds on a pilot project that ran in Groruddalen, one of Oslo’s most diverse and densely populated districts. There, Ruter and Holo have been testing on-demand autonomous transport since 2023.
The trial has offered insights into how driverless services behave under real-world pressures: unpredictable traffic, the harsh Scandinavian winter weather, and the challenge of providing convenient public transport in neighbourhoods underserved by traditional routes.
Ruter hopes the next phase will reveal how such vehicles might fit into a wider system aimed at cutting car use and curbing emissions. As one measure, the capital has already slashed all public parking in its city center.
Volkswagen-as-a-service?
Volkswagen will supply a specialised version of its ID. Buzz electric minibus, equipped with a full suite of cameras, lidar, and radar, plus onboard computing that controls navigation and monitors the interior.
The shuttles are built for shared trips, not for private ownership, with sliding doors and a passenger-management system that handles tasks usually left to a driver. An app developed by MOIA will handle bookings and routing. However, human supervision isn’t entirely abandoned; safety operators will remain on board until regulators fully approve driverless services.
For MOIA, the deal marks a shift in strategy. After years spent running its own ridepooling fleets in Hamburg and, until recently, Hanover, the company is hoping to become a supplier of autonomous mobility systems to transport agencies and private operators.
From Volkswagen’s side, the partnership with Ruter follows deployments in Berlin and test programs in Munich, Austin, and Los Angeles. The German carmaker tries to carve out a foothold in a field where it still trails more technologically mature rivals.
It is still racing to catch up with established players, such as Waymo, whose driverless robotaxis have operated for years in US cities. While partnerships like Oslo’s offer the German manufacturer a way into public transport networks, they will also expose its technology to public scrutiny at a time when safety, trust, and cost remain unresolved questions.
Level 4 allowed
Holo, which has managed autonomous fleets across Scandinavia, will be responsible for day-to-day operations in Oslo. The operator believes that combining MOIA’s purpose-built technology with its own practical experience will deliver a more stable service than the small-scale pilots that have characterised much of Europe’s autonomous transport experimentation.
Norway’s regulatory stance has also played a decisive role. The country allows Level 4 autonomous testing on public roads. It has also cultivated a reputation for welcoming technologies that struggle to break through the EU’s more cumbersome approval regimes. Volkswagen hopes to secure European and US approvals for driverless operation next year.
