Autonomous shuttles for the mobility transition in rural areas

RIAMO (Rural Communities enabled for integrated automated mobility) will offer an electric, automated on-demand shuttle service starting at the end of September, initially in the testing region of Linz. The automated test vehicle eVAN will be deployed. It is a level 4 vehicle, which means that it is already capable of driving fully autonomously on certain routes and under certain conditions. During testing, a trained safety driver who can take corrective action if needed will sit behind the steering wheel for safety reasons. The project will be coordinated by experts in Linz for the purpose of testing, validating, researching and implementing autonomous utility and transport vehicles of Digitrans.  

Passengers can call the shuttle to the desired stop via an App. “In this way, the vehicle will only target those stops which passengers have specifically demanded,” explains Alexander Barth, Managing Director of Digitrans. What also makes the project special is the fact that the vehicle not only drives autonomously, but that it can also be charged autonomously if needed. For this purpose, a charging robot developed by the Graz-based company Volterio is being tested. The required charging times will be automatically calculated and also taken into account in real time in the App. Conversely, any potential idle times could be used for charging.  

Navya shuttles are underway in Klagenfurt and Pörtschach within the context of the SURAAA project (Smart Urban Region Austria Alps Adriatic). An autonomous shuttle with a corresponding timetable has already been in service in daily, real-time operation since 2018, and has even been underway on federal roads since 2019. At present, a fleet of three shuttles developed by the French manufacturer Navya operates on the four-kilometre-long test route. This is the first fleet with automated vehicles to be operated in Austria. Passengers can also order the vehicles to stop on an on-demand basis by using an App. SURAA is an initiative in the fields of business, tourism and mobility implemented by the Federal Province of Carinthia in collaboration with business and research partners. The underlying objective is to position the province as an innovative showcase region and to promote innovative projects in the fields of automated mobility, entrepreneurship and innovation.  

Organisations such as the Mobility Cluster ACstyria connect and support companies along the entire value chain and serve as the link between business, industry and public institutions. In this way, they make an important contribution towards the further development of the sector as well as the implementation of joint, forward-looking projects.  

You can find further information on the mobility sector in Austria here: https://investinaustria.at/en/industries-functions/industry/mobility/