Navya, Keolis launch driverless public transit vehicle pilot in Las Vegas

A new milestone in transportation was reached as Navya and Keolis, in partnership with the City of Las Vegas, launched the first completely autonomous, fully-electric shuttle ever to be deployed on a public roadway in the U.S. The shuttle is being launched in the new Innovation District that was recently created by the City of Las Vegas in downtown Las Vegas.

During the week-long pilot, the public will be invited to take free test rides of the driverless vehicle, which carries up to a dozen passengers and was designed for use by state and local governments and transit agencies and operators as an efficient, clean-energy alternative to the fossil-fuel powered vehicles of today.

The pilot was made possible through a partnership between Keolis, a leader in operating public transportation systems, and Navya, which developed the ARMA Shuttle. The public will be able to ride on the shuttle Jan. 11 to 20, as it travels along east Fremont Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and Eighth Street, with regular street traffic.

The City of Las Vegas recently established an Innovation District downtown to create a center for testing groundbreaking technology in the areas of alternative energy, citizen participation, transportation, and social infrastructure.

The City plans to transform the downtown urban core into a technology incubator focused on safe, efficient, sustainable, and environmentally-conscious mobility, including autonomous and connected vehicles and establishing a platform for deploying innovation.

Navya began testing ARMA for service in North America at MCity, the University of Michigan’s unique test site for connected and automated vehicles in December 2016, showcasing the vehicle publicly in the U.S. for the first time at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show this past weekend in Las Vegas.

Navya Shuttle Las Vegas from Keolis Commuter Services on Vimeo.