Kloten/Schaffhausen/San José - Flughafen Zürich AG is investing in a pilot project involving a self-driving shuttle bus with space for nine people. According to current plans, this will be put into service in the next few months. The Californian pioneer WeRide has been selected as technology provider.

Over the next few months, Flughafen Zürich AG intends to put a self-driving shuttle bus into operation for up to nine employees of companies working at the airport. The pilot project led by the ZRH Innovation Hub is intended to lay the foundations for the establishment of future standards. According to a press release, the Hub is working closely with Swiss Transit Lab, the Schaffhausen-based competence network for smart mobility across Switzerland.

The planned route starts airside at the employee entrance at gate 101, passing by two hangars and the central warehouse, before finishing up at the maintenance area at gate 130 without crossing any airplane taxiways. As the route is clearly separated from flight operations, it is said to both be ideally suited to the use of autonomous vehicles for the first time and to offer optimal test conditions. A Robotaxi from WeRide has been mapping the route since mid-December.

Founded in 2017 in Silicon Valley, the company with a headquarter in the chinese city of Guangzhou, an industry leader for automated mobility, won the tender for this project. According to information from WeRide itself, it has secured permits for the use of its autonomous vehicles in China, Singapore, the USA and the United Arab Emirates. In October 2024, WeRide and the taxi service Uber announced that autonomous vehicle rides would be bookable via the Uber app, initially in Abu Dhabi.

As Flughafen Zürich AG explains further, WeRide complies with all of the legal and safety requirements in place at Zurich Airport and guarantees that it will meet stringent data protection requirements. The Robobus to be used on the grounds of the airport has already been successfully tested on public roads in Paris by WeRide and its European partner Renault. ce/mm

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