WeRide has announced the first driverless commercial deployment of its Robobus in Europe, which will be through a shuttle service partnership alongside beti Automated Mobility, Renault Group, and Macif.
The deployment will see the autonomous driving technology company’s minibus operate a L4 shuttle service in the Drôme region of France. For WeRide, it represents the latest step in its global expansion as well as its first high-level automated service connecting a railway station to a business park.
For the partnership, WeRide will provide its L4 autonomous technology to facilitate a passenger transport service that will operate on open roads in mixed traffic. Here, a fleet of Robobuses operated by beti will each carry up to eight passengers, drive at speeds up to 40 km/h (24 mph) . beti highlighted that the service is set to begin operations on March 10, at the Rovaltain business park near the Valence TGV station in Drôme.
The route is 3.3 km (2.0 miles) long and serves the train station, off-site long-term parking, the business park’s catering hub, and 150 companies that, together, employ 3,000 people. Alongside WeRide’s technologies, beti’s ‘hypervision’ solution provides an added layer of safety to the autonomous driving system, while ensuring it can continuously be improved.
Through the shuttle service, WeRide, beti, Renault Group, and Macif are looking to showcase three key use cases for the technologies involved, including their ability to provide flexible mobility between the station and companies, while promoting sustainable last-mile transport; create a low-carbon alternative to walking between parking and the station; and connect companies to the catering hub for employees.
The initial learning phase of the deployment will run from March 10 to April 19, operating Monday to Friday under real passenger transport conditions. Through this time, WeRide and its partners will ultimately aim to demonstrate the relevance of the service, the safety of the technology and the efficiency of the operations. A second target operating phase will start in July, 2025.
