Transports de la region Morges Biere Cossonay (MBC) to partner with Bestmile to operate unique autonomous shuttle service in the city centre of Cossonay, Switzerland

The Transports de la région Morges Bière Cossonay (MBC), a public transport operator based in western Switzerland, has chosen BestMile’s platform to operate and optimize its very first fleet of autonomous shuttles. Through this project, MBC aims to offer a complimentary solution to connect the existing transportation network to currently unserved areas of the city of Cossonay.

MBC will leverage Bestmile’s technology and expertise to accomplish a strategic first step towards connected and autonomous mobility. MBC will join the underway mobility revolution to notably address the challenge of first/last mile connectivity and offer new forward-thinking transportation solutions.

After an initial dry run, due to last until December 2017 and the entry into force of the updated national timetables, the two shuttles constituting this brand new line will connect the passengers of the Cossonay-Penthalaz funicular station to the heart of the village and surrounding business and residential areas. The autonomous shuttles will move passengers in an urban environment composed of open streets and roads, offering several stops to passengers along the path. The frequency and timetable of the service will be linked to the funicular schedule adding a new level of complexity that MBC will be able to address thanks to the openness and agility of BestMile’s platform. In a subsequent development phase, the service will also provide the passengers with the ability to book vehicles on-demand using a mobile application.

“The partnership we have developed with BestMile will allow us to operate the driverless fleet according to the quality standards of Swiss public transportation. Thanks to the high-end capabilities of its platform for autonomous mobility services, we will be able to dispatch the shuttles according to real-time demand, thus offering our customers a service matching perfectly their daily mobility needs “, says Mauro Pascale, Head of Planning and Distribution Unit at MBC.

About BestMile

BestMile is a Swiss company with offices in Lausanne (Switerland), London (UK) and San Francisco (USA), developing distributed and highly scalable cloud technology, leveraging the full potential of autonomous vehicles to tackle global mobility challenges.