The Lyonnais-based manufacturer of autonomous shuttle buses, Navya, has announced the start of the first regular operation of autonomous buses in public transport. Since today, two Navya Autonom Shuttle buses have been running on the N1 line in Lyon between the Décines Grand Large stations of the T3 tramway line and the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

ℹ Pour la première fois en France, les véhicules circulent intégralement en milieu urbain sur la voirie aux

côtés des voitures, en interaction avec les éléments de signalisation routière. 🔄🆗️📡 #avenueH2020 pic.twitter.com/JvFFqWmBU5 — NAVYA (@NAVYA_Group) November 15, 2019

The vehicles on the N1 line are driving on regular streets in regular traffic, and operate from Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 19:30.

Les 2 navettes autonomes #N1 🚌🔌 circulent du lundi au samedi de 8h30 à 19h30 ! #EmbarquezPourDemain pic.twitter.com/gsqTzKcQxC — SYTRAL (@SYTRAL_RHONE) November 15, 2019

Already one and a half years ago we reported about the plans and vision of Navya. The city of Vienna in the Seestadt Aspern and Pörtschach am Wörthersee are also testing these vehicles.

Following the launch of Waymo’s first commercial robotic taxi service in November 2018, the sighting of the first completely driverless Waymo One vehicles in Phoenix, this is the first driverless regular service of shuttle buses. Autonomous vehicles are on their way to normality.

This article was also published in German.