Autonomous buses being tested in Paris ahead of Olympic bid

RATP bus in Paris. Image credit: Flickr

Paris is one of two cities still bidding for the 2024 Olympics - the other being Los Angeles. As part of their bid, the City of Paris is teaming with Regie Autonomie des Transports Parisiens (RATP), the transit agency for Ile-de-Paris, to operate driverless buses. Currently, the system is being tested between the Lyon and Austerlitz Metro stations. Traveling at 15 miles per hour, the buses use GPS to stay on a single lane - no additional infrastructure is needed for the project. Paris hopes these buses can help with travel during the Olympics, but also help the proverbial "first mile/last mile" issue.

The article was posted in the Urban Transportation Monitor (Vol 31, No 2).