Self-driving shuttles start driving daily in France

Self-driving is gradually becoming a trend of future technology as self-driving shuttles have started operation for the first time in France. .

Two Navya Arma shuttles, which are four-meter long with a capacity of 15 people, started driving in Lyon on Saturday (local time), the AFP reported. The shuttles will be in pilot operation for a year and run at the speed of up to 20 kilometers per hour and 10 kilometers per hour on average.

Though self-driving buses have been tested in Finland and Japan, the shuttles in France will be the first in the world to run for a long time on a regular basis.

“The shuttles can identify exactly where they are located and sense what is happening around them to avoid a collision,” said Navya CEO Christophe Sapet.

However, the buses cannot cut into traffic and are designed not to allow other vehicles to cut in on its path. It drives around 10 minutes and stops at five stations in downtown Lyon. A shuttle costs around 170,000 pounds (226,720 U.S. dollars).

Investment in self-driving technologies is growing across the world. According to Japan’s NHK on Sunday, seven Japanese automakers including Toyota and Nissan plan to spend a record amount of 2.8 trillion yen (27 billion dollars) for R&D investments this year, which an increase of 2.4 percent year-on-year.

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