Seoul city's first self-driving buses without driver's seats have begun operating near Seoul's Cheonggye stream.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that the autonomous Cheonggye A01 shuttle had kicked off its four-point-eight-kilometer route linking Cheonggye Plaza and Gwangjang Market.

The Cheonggye A01 was developed with Korean technology and is equipped with a large interior display, which provides information on the state of its operations, as well as a wheelchair lift.

The bus operates every 30 minutes between 10 a.m. and 4:50 p.m. and can transport up to eight passengers at a time. A human staff will be on standby for emergency situations.

Passengers can ride the bus free of charge for now, but the city will begin charging a fare sometime in the first half of next year.

Tuesday marked the first time that a bus without a driver's seat or steering wheel has operated in South Korea's capital.