First UK demonstrations of a fully autonomous and electric driverless shuttle from French smart mobility specialist Navya have been carried out at London’s Heathrow Airport, Intelligent Transport Systems Review reported.
The Navya Arma was first deployed in France in late 2015 and aims to provide a complement to current public transport systems over distances that are too short to go by car or too long on foot.
Each shuttle can carry up to 15 people and reach speeds of up to 30mph. The vehicles navigate using a multitude of equipped sensor technology that enables them to map out their environment and detect obstacles in their path.
Although Heathrow is yet to commit to using the buses, it is a prime contender for Navya’s first UK fleet. The buses would be used to ferry customers from Heathrow’s car parks into the terminal buildings.
Arrival of the shuttles in the UK is part of an exclusive demonstration at Heathrow and comes following a successful launch in the USA.
“Breaking into the UK market is one of our major objectives so we are delighted to be at London’s Heathrow Airport to demonstrate our innovative smart mobility solution,” commented Navya’s Vice president of Sales, Henri Coron.
“Autonomous vehicles will allow airports to deal with certain flow issues currently experienced and to therefore improve the passenger’s airport experience.”
Henri told IBTimes UK: “We carried more than 100,000 people last year and we have done more than 50,00km. It’s a first mile and last mile solution, fully electric and full driverless so no infrastructure is required.”
People tend to use their own car for connecting the dots where public transport can’t reach. Navya hopes its buses
will offer a solution where commuters are collected from their home and taken to the train station, then from the station to their office, negating the need to drive and cutting both air pollution and road congestion.
In total a fleet of 30 Navya Arma vehicles are now in use across seven countries around the world, with more than 100,000 people transported to date.
A demonstration of the driverless shuttle on the public roads of Las Vegas’ downtown Fremont East Entertainment District following its introduction at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in the city.
The driverless shuttle is currently also being trialled at the University of Michigan’s ‘MCity’ test site for connected and automated vehicles.
