Autonomous shuttles to be rolled out in Lyon

NAVYA, a French autonomous driving systems company, is rolling out autonomous shuttles in the Lyon metropolitan area’s public transport network.

Over the next two years, NAVYA’s autonomous shuttles aim to be fully integrated within the city of Lyon’s public transport network – operated by Transports en commun lyonnais, France’s second largest public transport network – and will provide a regular service Monday through Saturday between the Décines Grand Large tram station (line T3) and the Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium.

The 1.4km route taken by the shuttles is located in a dense urban traffic environment used by thousands of vehicles each day, and the service is said to address various major technical challenges such as traffic lights, roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. The service will run at an average speed of 13-15km/h, with the objective to eventually increase this to 20-25km/h.

This service, developed in collaboration with SYTRAL and public transport operator Keolis, is part of the AVENUE (Autonomous Vehicles to Evolve to New Urban Experience) European measures, selected by the HORIZON 2020 European project, to develop autonomous vehicles in European cities. Geneva, Luxembourg and Copenhagen have also been chosen as pilot cities.