Charting the Future: Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Reshaping the Bus System

Driven by technological innovation and digital evolution, the current automotive industry is standing at the cusp of a transformative era (Liu et al., 2023). As urban centers continue to expand and intensify the demands on transportation networks, the need for solutions to alleviate congestion, boost traffic efficiency, and enhance road safety becomes increasingly urgent. On this occasion, intelligent and connected vehicles, integrating vehicles, infrastructure, and cloud computing, promise a smarter mode of passenger transportation and pave the way for a more interconnected and responsive urban transit ecosystem (Cao et al., 2023). Therefore, traditional passenger buses are on the verge of significant transformation in terms of their functional technologies and operational models. This will bring about a host of benefits such as higher efficiency, better passenger experiences, and safer road environments. This paper provides a comprehensive outlook on intelligent and connected passenger buses (ICPBs), delving into the integrated vehicle-road-cloud platform and highlighting the key technologies that will shape the future bus system. As illustrated in Fig. 1, it showcases the key perspectives on the future of ICPBs.