Autonomous mobility corridor to be established in Paris

16 October 2019

Renault is to explore implementing an autonomous mobility service on a key Paris route as part of a partnership with Waymo.

The group is aiming to have a service in place between Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport and La Défense, a large business district. A possible goal is to have autonomous vehicles running on the route in time for the 2024 Olympic Games being held in the city.

Renault and Waymo, the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, will be partners with the Ile-de-France region in the venture.

Investment region

′This autonomous mobility service between Roissy and La Défense is likely to play a key role for the mobility of ÃŽle-de-France inhabitants, tourists and therefore for the international attractiveness of our Region, which is investing €100 million to develop the infrastructure on which autonomous vehicles will operate’ says Valérie Pécresse, president of the Paris Region and president of ÃŽle-de-France Mobilités. 

′I hope that we will be able to bring this project to a successful conclusion for the Paris Olympic Games.’

The distance to the airport from La Défense, where many of France’s largest companies are based, is around 20 miles and the journey can take up to an hour and a half due to traffic density in the area. The companies involved have yet to offer any further details on the service, the potential vehicles that will be used or the frequencies of travel.

Furthering partnerships

In June, Renault, Nissan and Waymo said they had entered into a partnership to pursue the development of self-driving systems for a range of vehicles.

The carmaker also recently established a dedicated mobility division, Renault M.A.I. (mobility as an industry), which will partner with cities, regulatory authorities and transport operators, as well as companies in other sectors, to promote shared mobility and address environmental issues.

New trial

Meanwhile, the French carmaker has started a public trial of its on-demand car service.

A panel of around 100 people will use the on-demand car service provided by two electric, autonomous and shared Renault Zoe Cab prototypes, on the Paris-Saclay urban campus. The objective of this experiment is to test the technical aspects of this on-demand mobility service and to evaluate its acceptability and adoption by end-users for their daily journeys, the company states.

The work is part of the carmaker’s partnership with the University of Paris-Saclay on the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab, aiming to research and develop mobility services.