Autonomous shuttles are arriving on our highways!

It’s official, autonomous shuttles will appear on our highways. It is Vinci and three other partners who are at the origin of this initiative. We reveal everything to you here!

In total, these will be in total two autonomous shuttles which will be released on our roads by the motorway concession company Vinci and three other partners. Scheduled for 2026, these two shuttles will transport passengers between two cities which are Longvilliers in Yvelines and Massy in Essonne via the station Briis-sous-Forges. Well obviously, this journey will be made without anyone behind the wheel. A world first !

First test on the A10

The shuttle will take l’A10 from the first half of 2026. The project, called MOB-AUTO² (MOBility AUTOmatized on AUTOconnected road) required the creation of a consortium of four partners including:

Vinci Highways, the motorway concession company which operates the A10. There is also the society Milla Group who will build the autonomous shuttles and oversee the service. THE SAVAC Group, the transport company, which will operate the shuttle service. And finally, we also find the university Gustave Eiffel which will collect certain data to evaluate the impact of the automated mobility system and its contribution to the common good.

Tests in real conditions

Before this new service is operational, there will be three years of experimentation. The shuttle will then undergo tests while traveling at a speed of 90 km/h on the highway. It will then be able to contain up to 15 places and will be able to carry out 30 trips per dayi.e. a total capacity of 450 passengers daily.

The two shuttles will have to travel a route of 28 km in total. Despite the fact that they are released in total autonomy, an external system of supervision and intervention will be put in place. Throughout the journey, part of the infrastructure will be connected to be able to assist the shuttles at sensitive points of the journey such as tolls, insertions, access to bus routes as well as works.

As you have probably guessed, this project is one more solution for decarbonize mobility. More particularly, this project aims to fight against self-driving, a term which refers to the fact of borrowing your personal car without taking any passengers with you. A phenomenon, which, according to Vinci Autoroutes, is getting worse over time. The rate of solo use on motorways has reached 84.7 % according to the Vinci Autoroutes self-driving barometer from February 2023.