Without ever exceeding 50 km/h, a pink, green and blue van crosses the Brenne (in the center, south of Tours) and its ponds.
Apart from a few protrusions and sensors, there is nothing to distinguish it from conventional minibuses.
On board the shuttle built by the French start-up Milla, there is no driver, but an “operator” responsible for taking control when the shuttle has to pass a poorly parked vehicle.
Four stops are planned for a journey of 17 kilometers covered in 36 minutes.
For Jean-Bernard Constant, digital manager at the Cœur de Brenne community of municipalities, this is more of a societal experiment than a technical one.
“There are 150 experiments in France.
On the other hand, very few in rural areas, and as many kilometers on open roads, this is a world first.
However, this also allows us to study all the technical problems that we don't have in town,” he adds.
Sébastien Lalange, mayor of Paulnay and vice-president of Cœur de Brenne, sees it above all as an economic solution.
“We know that what costs in transport is the driver.
In the absence of a driver, mobility becomes financially possible.
It could be the future for very clearly financial reasons.
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And you, in the future, would you let yourself be tempted by this experience without an operator on board?
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