Paris’ CDG Airport trialling autonomous electric shuttles
A trial is about to start around Paris main airport Charles de Gaulle with two autonomous electric shuttle buses ferrying passengers. The three month project is a cooperation between Groupe ADP, Keolis and Navya.
It is the first time that a French airport is carrying passengers around in self-driving shuttles. The latter have been designed by Navya. During the trial in Paris they will run in the the business district Roissypôle until July.
There, the 700 meter stretch includes three stops, namely RER Train Station, La Maison de l’Environnement, and Groupe ADP’s headquarter, who runs Paris CDG airport. With the shuttles open to the public, user feedback will be part of the evaluation of the trial.
The route is designed to test how the automated electric vehicles will behave on a busy roadway and the way in which they merge in with many pedestrians. Specific traffic signals to communicate with the shuttles have been introduced for further safety when crossing the road.
Says Edward Arkwright, Deputy CEO of Groupe ADP: “With this first trial, Groupe ADP is paving the way for developing this technology within our networks. In these constrained environments, autonomous technology is a lever for optimising infrastructure for new mobility offers.”
The Navya autonomous electric shuttle Arma can carry up to 11 seated and four standing passengers and has a maximum speed of 25 kph.
For operator Keolis and Navya it is not the first cooperation as they are also working together in a project that sees the shuttles scouting up and down public roads in Las Vegas reportedly. French Navya has been working on production facilities in both the States and Australia.
Navya introduced their electric self driving minibus Arma for the first time in 2015 and has since started projects and trials across Europe and abroad.
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