Self-Driving Shuttle Starts Operation in Lyon France in September

Just this week a truck driver informed me that autonomous trucks are at least “decades away”.

It’s 2016, six to eight years away from my target date, and self-driving shuttles will hit Lyon, France this September.

Via translation from LyonMag.Com, please consider Free Autonomous Shuttle Starts September.

It was only a matter of time. And it is now official. Two Navya Arma shuttles arrive in the Confluence district in September.

These shuttles driverless, 100% autonomous and fully electric task will be to carry passengers between the leisure division and Confluence shopping and the tip of the peninsula, up to the GL Events seat.

Navya Arma has “lasers that sweep space, cameras and precise GPS”. The Navya should be able to circulate in the Lyon area starting early September, from 7:30 to 18:30. Despite the absence of a driver, the shuttle can reach 25km/hour, safe for passengers or pedestrians.

Navya Arma Video

Some may scoff at 25km/hour (roughly 15.5 mph) but not me. For starters, the shuttle operates in city traffic, with pedestrians, not in interstate highway traffic that in most respects is much easier (no bicycles, no kids playing in the street, no stop signs, no stop lights).

Finally, I point out this is 2016. Where will the technology be eight years from now? Six? Even four?

Autonomous truck naysayers, please get a grip on reality.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock