Keolis will test self-driving vehicles in an 80ha site in Déols, France. Credit: Keoli.

Transport operator Keolis has partnered with Châteauroux Metropole and the French Shooting Federation to test its self-driving vehicles at the National Centre for Shooting Sports (CNTS) in Châteauroux, France.

Testing will occur in the 80ha CNTS site in Déols, near Châteauroux in Indre.

The site is closed to traffic and will enable Keolis to carry out operator training and test new autonomous mobility solutions.

Keolis will also look into developing the management of its self-driving vehicle fleet without on-board drivers.

The company plans to carry out tests to improve vehicle operation and the vehicles’ ability to adapt to different traffic environments.

From January, the partnership will trial a fleet of Autonom Cab’s self-driving vehicles.

Keolis has launched 15 autonomous shuttle operations in France, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the US and the UK.

The shuttles have covered around 80,000km and transported nearly 200,000 passengers. Keolis recently introduced new shuttle trials in Rennes and Lyon, France and in Newcastle, Australia.

In October, Keolis and multimodal transport network Divia Mobilités launched a virtual mobility assistant in Dijon, France.

The mobility coach, which can be accessed from the Divia Mobilités app, uses a combination of artificial intelligence, smart data and voice assistance.

In 2017, NAVYA, a French company that develops mobility solutions, and Keolis partnered with the city of Las Vegas to launch the first completely autonomous, fully electric shuttle on a public roadway.

The pilot project was made possible through a partnership between Keolis and NAVYA, which developed the ARMA Shuttle.