- Keolis and Navya, partners in autonomous mobility since
2016, have launched their first fully autonomous shuttle service at
the French National Shooting Sports Centre (CNTS) in
Châteauroux.
- This service aims at transporting athletes and visitors
around the centre, particularly during forthcoming competitive
events. It has been developed in partnership with Châteauroux
Métropole and the French Shooting Sports Federation (Fédération
Française de Tir).
- This launch is a decisive step towards the development of a
multimodal service incorporating Level 4 autonomous
vehicles.
Regulatory News:
A decisive step towards a fully autonomous service
Since June 22th, 2020, the shuttle new-generation "Autonom®
Shuttle Evo" has been in service at the CNTS, where is located the
Keolis Autonomous Mobility Test Site, allowing athletes and
visitors to use the shuttle service from the parking lot to the
reception area and shooting areas during competitions.
With a length of 1.6 km, the shuttle runs at a maximum speed
close to 15 km/h. It operates in a closed site within mixed
traffic, including one stop sign and intersections. To optimize the
shuttle's integration with its surroundings and to operate safely
into its environment, the infrastructure of the site has been
accommodated with visual signage such as panels, and special
traffic rules have been established.
This launch is a decisive step towards the development of a
multimodal offer that integrates Level 4 fully self-driving
vehicles, which provide real autonomy without an onboard safety
operator under certain conditions, while ensuring the safety of
passengers and other road users.
A remote supervision centre allows for full autonomy
This experimentation brings an innovative technological
dimension to the project by implementing connected infrastructures
which allow the operator to be situated outside of the vehicle. The
supervisor's role consists of managing the operation of the vehicle
from the remote supervision centre, which has been set up on site
for this purpose.
This remote supervision centre, which has control-command
interfaces accessible via a control box and screens, is able
to:
- Manage the vehicle and monitor its condition in real time.
- Visually monitor the shuttle environment by means of a direct
video feed.
- Override the vehicle at any time by activating the emergency
stop button.
In addition, the imminent adoption of new technologies will
further increase the reliability and quality of these improved
services. For example, 5G will considerably reduce latency and data
transmission reliability. Collectively these improvements will
reduce accident risk and lessen controller reaction time to
unforeseen events.
Towards sef-driving shuttle fleet management
The next steps to be taken include upgrading the skills of
mobility service providers, developing additional technical
functionalities, and pooling supervision resources. This will
support a shift from managing one vehicle to managing a vehicle
fleet, and from a single site to multiple sites. All this will be
subject to meeting requirements for safety and operational
reliability.
Etienne Hermite, Chief Executive Officer of Navya: «The
achievement of this fully autonomous level 4 service at the CNTS is
a major step forward for our partners, and for autonomous driving
in general. We are taking these steps one at a time, gradually
increasing our level of technical expertise to meet increasingly
ambitious challenges. Today, fully autonomous operations on closed
sites are the first step in the progressive deployment of Level 4
autonomous mobility solutions, so that in the future we will be
able to see them driving in more complex environments. »
Jean Ghedira, Keolis Executive Director of Marketing and New
Mobility: «This first fully autonomous service at our test site
in Châteauroux is a new key stage in the development of autonomous
mobility services. Keolis is preparing for the deployment of full
autonomy on open roads with the aim of guaranteeing optimum safety
and quality of service for passengers, which remain our priorities
as an operator. »
About Keolis
As a pioneer in the development of public transport, Keolis
partners with public-sector decision-makers seeking to boost their
regions' attractiveness and vitality through shared mobility. As
the world's leading operator of automated metros and trams, Keolis
relies on a sustained and open innovation policy with all its
partners and subsidiaries - such as Kisio, EFFIA, Keolis Santé, and
Cykleo - to strengthen its core business and develop new innovative
and "tailor-made" shared mobility offers.
The Group has 68,500 employees in 15 countries, with a 2019
projected turnover of €6.6 billion. In 2019, 3.4 billion passengers
used a shared mobility service offered by Keolis.
Since 2016, Keolis has carried out numerous experiments with
long-term autonomous shuttles for public use: 8 in France (Paris La
Défense and Roissy-Charles De Gaulle airport, Lyon Confluence and
Olympique Lyonnais stadium, Nevers, Bordeaux, Lille and Rennes) and
10 in other countries (1 in the United States, 4 in Australia, 1 in
Canada, 2 in Belgium, 1 in the United Kingdom and 1 in Monaco),
thus enabling the Group to position itself as an expert in the
operation of autonomous shuttles. By the end of July 2020, the
Group had recorded approximately 105,000 km travelled and more than
200,000 passengers transported in autonomous shuttles, in France
and the rest of the world.
About Navya
Navya is a leading French name in the autonomous driving
systems. With 280 employees in France (Paris and Lyon) and in the
United States (Michigan), Navya aims at becoming the leading player
for the supply of autonomous driving systems for passenger and
goods transport. Since 2015, Navya has been the first to market and
put into service autonomous mobility solutions. The Autonom®
Shuttle, main development axis, was launched in September 2015 and
nearly 170 units have been sold as of 30 June 2020, notably in the
United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Australia.
The Autonom® Tract is dedicated to goods transport. Created in 2014
with the support of Robolution Capital, investment fund managed by
360 Capital Partners, his reference shareholder, Navya’s
shareholders also include the Gravitation fund and Paris Region
Venture Fund (Région Île-de-France) managed by Cap Decisif
Management as well as Valeo and Keolis groups. Navya is listed on
the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041-
Navya).
For more information visit: www.navya.tech/en
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KEOLIS
Alexandre Poidevin Media Relations Manager
+33(0)171329703 / +33(0)618761869 alexandre.poidevin@keolis.com
NAVYA
Navya Albane Garnier Marketing Manager
+33(0)666587146 albane.garnier@navya.tech
NewCap Nicolas Merigeau Media Relations
+33(0)144719498 navya@newcap.eu