Bolt and Stellantis propose driverless trials across Greater Paris
Bolt, Stellantis and the Greater Paris authority have proposed autonomous mobility trials starting in up to five municipalities from 2028. The partners aim to assess expansion to around 30 municipalities and potential commercial operations by 2030. The proposal includes independent evaluation of safety, service quality and public-transport integration, with deployment subject to approvals.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
Greater Paris proposes trials from 2028
Bolt, Stellantis and Métropole du Grand Paris, the metropolitan authority for the Greater Paris area in France, announced an autonomous-mobility proposal on October 23. They submitted it to ADACities, a European Commission initiative for autonomous urban mobility. The first phase targets up to five municipalities in north-west Greater Paris from 2028. The partners aim to assess expansion to around 30 municipalities and potential commercial operations by 2030, subject to the required approvals.[1], [2]
Vehicles and platform integration have separate owners
Stellantis supplies vehicles based on its L4-ready platforms, intended for highly automated driving, as well as engineering and vehicle-integration capabilities. Bolt, the mobility-platform company, assigns service integration and deployment planning to its autonomous-driving unit. Its role connects the driving technology and vehicles to Bolt’s platform. The metropolitan authority coordinates municipalities and other stakeholders, identifies local uses and oversees evaluation in the public interest.[1]
Pony.ai, an autonomous-driving technology developer, is identified as a potential provider of the driving system. The planned technical arrangement also names NVIDIA’s Hyperion computing and sensor architecture and Halos safety system. The partners intend to select routes with participating municipalities and obtain authorizations before deployment. Services remain subject to applicable safety, regulatory and data-protection requirements.[1]
Independent evaluation informs any expansion
Proposed journeys include first- and last-mile connections, access to employment areas, off-peak travel and transport for major events. The trial is intended to test how an autonomous service fits into existing public transport. An independent evaluation would examine operational safety, service quality and user acceptance, together with economic, social, environmental and operating effects. Aggregated operating data is intended to inform decisions about expansion. The announcement describes a conditional pilot with staged evaluation rather than an operating robotaxi service.[1]
