The Swiss Transit Lab in Schaffhausen (STL) is poised to take a further step in the development of autonomous vehicles for public transport. Next year, a new pilot project known as «Route 13» will see a test route used to put new technologies into operational service. 

The Swiss Transit Lab (STL), based in Schaffhausen, carried out its first pilot with an autonomous bus in 2019, with the vehicle running as a scheduled public transport service provided by the Canton’s passenger transport operator, Verkehrsbetriebe Schaffhausen (vbsh). Drawing on the experience gained during the 2019 pilot and working closely with the Swiss Association of Autonomous Mobility (SAAM), STL is about to take its next step in the development process: Route 13 will be the first time a Level 4 (high level of driving automation) autonomous vehicle equipped with dual mode technology has been deployed in a pilot project in Switzerland. The focus of this pilot phase will be on the potential to provide a first and last mile service aligned to passengers’ needs. «In the public transport sector, we are facing many questions about how we will provide our service to customers in future. This project will help us, as a group of mobility providers in Switzerland, to jointly gain crucial insights into how we need to operate in future.», Martin Neubauer, Managing Director of SAAM, adds. Mobility solutions of the future can only be developed via collaboration between different players. That is why close cooperation with SAAM, as a national platform, and the knowledge sharing it facilitates is key, as STL Project Director Patrick Schenk explains.

The next steps for the «Route 13» pilot project

Working with a number of project partners as well as SAAM and leading figures from its network, STL will launch the new project, called «Route 13», in Schaffhausen in spring 2022. The route will be served by a standard electric vehicle from Toyota, equipped with additional sensor technology to enable autonomous driving. This will be the first time a dual mode technology vehicle has been deployed in Switzerland. As a first phase, the vehicle will provide a service between the main railway station in Schaffhausen and the new residential quarter, Stahlgiesserei. The shuttle will operate under the guidelines of Schaffhausen‘s public transport operator vbsh. Detailed planning for the project is currently underway, with input from experts within SAAM’s network.

STL’s member businesses are keen to gather evidence of how the first and last mile can potentially be covered by public transport services. At the same time, the vehicle is a test-bed for additional technologies, services and business models relating to autonomous mobility. The project presents tech companies as well as researchers with an opportunity to test their own technologies on the vehicle. STL offered this facility as part of its first project, «Route 12», attracting considerable interest and several successful collaborations. This aspect of the project reflects the wider strategy of the Canton of Schaffhausen which is keen to offer a full-scale test-bed environment for new technologies, as Christoph Schärrer, Official Delegate for Economic Development to the Canton’s Governing Council, explains. «Route 13» is receiving support from the Canton of Schaffhausen as part of its regional development activity and its commitment to creating an innovative and attractive business location.