Autonomous driving operation at RATP: new season. The experiment began in 2021 with the implementation of a “100% autonomous bus on a classic line”. The “first” of the transport authority therefore has a sequel.
Île-de-France Mobilités and RATP have announced a new test, this time with travelers on board and daytime circulation. Here again, the two actors claim a “first in France.”
A supplementary bus during rush hour
The 12-meter, 100% electric autonomous vehicle made its first daytime kilometers with passengers on September 11. It runs on line 393 and can accommodate up to 17 passengers on board. Note that the bus is equipped with an agent, a backup driver or safety driver.
“The role of this driver is to ensure the safety of passengers in all circumstances,” specifies the Régie. For this new episode of its autonomous driving program, the RATP has chosen a line located in the inner suburbs.
Made up of 20 stops over 12 kilometers, for a journey time of around 30 minutes, line 393 stretches between Sucy-Bonneuil to its terminus Carrefour de la Résistance, located in the town of Thiais.
Cohabitation: a need for expertise
However, the autonomous bus does not complete the entire route. It is operated as a supplementary vehicle during rush hour and only serves some of the stops, over an equally arranged time slot – Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The autonomous bus is a priori unchanged since the first tests in 2021. It is therefore a standard CRRC brand vehicle, with a few differences. In particular, it is equipped with 5 sensors (2 lidars, 2 radars, 1 camera).
For the RATP, these traffic arrangements aim to “not disrupt the usual service.” However, the company’s ambition is not to confine autonomous vehicles to a complementary offering in the future.
RATP, through this experiment, is pursuing a dual perspective. “The first is to eventually and gradually integrate autonomy into a line with a high level of service, to reinvent everyday mobility, thanks to a bus,” she explains.
An autonomous shuttle in Paris too
The Parisian authority also intends to strengthen its expertise on questions of autonomy, “by dealing in particular with the question of the cohabitation of an autonomous vehicle within a traditional operation.”
To achieve these two objectives, RATP has simultaneously initiated a second experiment in the field of autonomous driving with passengers. On September 18, an inter-station shuttle was put into service.
Intended to “demonstrate autonomous mode in a very urban environment”, the shuttle connects the Gare de Lyon, the Pôle de Bercy and the Gare d’Austerlitz. The purpose remains unchanged: “to study the methods of integrating autonomous vehicles into the Ile-de-France network”, comments Gilles Tauzin, the director of innovation.