Forty years after the world’s first self-driving metro line was launched in Lille, France is about to start the first 100% self-driving bus in Île-de-France.
As a matter of fact, on April 25, 1983, then French President François Mitterrand attended the inauguration of the world’s first fully automatic metro line. In Paris, it was only in 1998, with the inauguration of metro line 14, that the Parisian metro enjoyed an automatic one. Then, in 2012, metro line 1 is made entirely self-driving. And since then, Paris metro’s automatization has been gaining ground with the line 4 and soon the line 13.
In 2023, the RATP (Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration) will hit a milestone with the soon launch of the first 100% self-driving bus. This bus – driven without hands – has been experimented since September 2021. But in the first quarter of 2023, it is expected to welcome its first commuters.
Where will this 39ft-long shuttle drive? This bus will cover the line 393. This bus line usually connects Sucy-en-Brie – Bonneuil-sur-Marne to Thiais, in Val-de-Marne. But thanks to the 5 captors (2 lidars, 2 radars, 1 camera), this bus will be able to drive autonomously for most of the trip, for 6km between Sucy-Bonneuil RER and Créteil (Basse Quinte), and up to 30km/h (18.64 mph). this new bus will be able to fit up to 18 seated people.
So, looking forward to riding Île-de-France’s first 100% self-driving bus? Let us meet in the first quarter of 2023, then!
Official website
www.ratp.fr
