AVENUE, one of the EU's most advanced and ambitious autonomous mobility projects, to hold its closure event

October, 11th 2022 – 07h30 CEST – The partners in the AVENUE Project announce that the winding-up of the project will be celebrated at a closure event organized by Navya, Keolis and the University of Geneva.

AVENUE is an anagram of “Autonomous Vehicles to Evolve to a New Urban Experience” and forms part of the European Union’s research and innovation Horizon 2020 funding program. It has been one of the EU’s most advanced and ambitious projects in the field of autonomous mobility, with the objective of setting up and conducting large scale trials of autonomous vehicles in urban centers and connecting them with existing public transportation networks.

The closure event will take place on October 20th, 2022 from 10 am to 3.30 pm at the Groupama Stadium at Décines-Charpieu near Lyon, and will bring together a large number of public and private players from the fields of mobility and transportation.

It will be an opportunity for the AVENUE partners to present the technological progress they have made over four years’ collaboration and the many successful deployments of on-demand autonomous public transportation services.

Thirteen Navya Autonom^® were rolled out in eight European towns and cities – Lyon, Geneva, Luxembourg, Copenhagen, Esch-sur-Alzette and Uvrier – and transported 60,000 passengers over more than 80,000 km.

The closure event will also be an opportunity to emphasize the role of autonomous shuttles within existing transportation networks and to evaluate the state of the art of autonomous mobility in Europe.

Dimitri Konstantas, Coordinator of the AVENUE Project, will open the ceremony by saying a few words. This will be followed by a number of keynote speeches, presentations and round table discussions.

The attendees will be able to test one of the key functions of the project – transportation on demand – on one of the two self-driving shuttles which will connect the tram station to the Groupama Stadium, home of Olympique Lyonnais football club.

We cordially invite the press to attend the event.

« For the last six years we have been conducting trials on autonomous shuttles in Lyon, and indeed the rest of the world, which has enabled us to take autonomous technology to a higher level. We and our partner OEMs are now in a position to offer this kind of service, not only on roads where the conditions are more complex, but also alongside and in conjunction with other modes of transportation. This multimodality is exactly what we want to push in cities like Lyon, so that its users can benefit from a service that complements the existing one. »

Clément Aubourg, Autonomous Vehicles Manager, Keolis

« Urban mobility is becoming one of the most serious problems in the daily life of our towns and cities, with too many cars on the roads, high pollution levels and traffic jams. The only solution is seems to be the transition from private cars to public transportation, but this will only happen if we are able to provide people with the same facility and simplicity they are used to. The AVENUE Project has demonstrated that on-demand, door-to-door public transportation based on autonomous vehicles is the most promising solution to our urban mobility problems. AVENUE has enabled us to deploy probably the world’s first real public transportation service using fully autonomous vehicles, which takes into account the whole range of related issues, from the technology to its socio-economic and environmental impact, and which opens the door to large scale deployments in the near future. »

Dimitri Konstantas, University of Geneva

« At its launch in 2018, the AVENUE Project was a first for Europe and a means of demonstrating the amazing advantages of autonomous mobility. It enabled us to make technological progress and to prove beyond doubt that Nayva’s autonomous shuttles could be integrated into the public transportation system. Our partners contributed a large number of new functions and services, including the on-demand, door-to-door function which is managed from a smartphone. Along with our partners in the AVENUE Project, we have proved that sustainable and shared autonomous mobility can be created and rolled out in the heart of Europe. »

Sophie Desormière, CEO OF Navya

About Keolis

Keolis is a pioneer in developing public transport systems and works alongside public authorities who want to enhance shared mobility systems to grow the appeal and vitality of their regions. A world leader in operating automated metro and tramway systems, Keolis and its partners and subsidiaries Cykleo, EFFIA, Hove, Keolis Santé, Kisio and support the core business with innovations offering new and bespoke shared mobility solutions for modes including trains, buses and coaches, trolleybuses, ondemand transport, transport for people with reduced mobility, driver and sea shuttle services, bikes share services and long-term rental, car sharing and fully electric driverless shuttles.       

In France, Keolis is the second largest provider of parking management solutions through its subsidiary EFFIA, and the country’s leader in medical transport since the creation of Keolis Santé in July 2017. The Group is 70%-owned by SNCF and 30%-owned by the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund) and employs 68,000 people in 14 countries. In 2021, it posted revenue of €6.3 billion. In 2019, 3.4 billion passengers used one of Keolis’ shared mobility services. www.keolis.com * Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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About the University of Geneva

The University of Geneva was founded in 1559 and today ranks among the 100 best universities in the world. It is a versatile institution with an international reach which fosters openness in its inter and pluri-disciplinary fields, both in research and teaching. It fits well with Geneva as an international city, contributing to the cultural, social and economic development of the region, notably through the promotion of research and its expertise in a wide range of fields. Through its multidisciplinary Economics and Management faculty, the University of Geneva has become a major European player in the search for solutions to future mobility, and in particular autonomous mobility, hydrogen based mobility and new urban mobility models.

About NAVYA

Created in 2014, NAVYA is a leading French name specialized in the supply of autonomous mobility systems and associated services. With 280 employees in France (Paris and Lyon), in the United States (Michigan) and in Singapore, NAVYA aims at becoming the leading player in Level 4 autonomous mobility systems for passenger and goods transport. Since 2015, NAVYA has been the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions. The Autonom^® Shuttle, main development axis, is dedicated to passenger transport. Since its launch, more than 200 units have been sold in 25 countries as of 31 December 2021. The Autonom^® Tract is designed to goods transport. Engaged in an ambitious CSR approach, the Company has an active policy in this area, as illustrated by the obtaining of the ISO 9001 certification in September 2021. The Valeo and Keolis groups are among NAVYA’s historical shareholders.

NAVYA is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- Navya). 

Further details: www.navya.tech

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