Vias is the pioneer in Belgium in the deployment of autonomous shuttles
Our has a strong expertise in the area of autonomous driving – understanding of all technical aspects, knowledge of regulation as well as sound practical experience. We are actively involved in most ongoing projects in Belgium and have extensive know-how in stakeholder management (federal, regional and municipal authorities, the police, site managers, shuttle providers, citizens). We know how to address the range of problems related to insurance, vehicle registration, adaptations to the road infrastructure and behaviour of road users. We are also able to conduct a risk analysis for vehicles with high-level of autonomy (level 3 and above).
We provide advice on legal issues, on the adaptation of the road infrastructure and on the operational deployment of vehicles. Vias can also contribute to the risk analysis and can study the impact of shuttles on mobility and road safety.
We were the first to deploy an autonomous shuttle on a private track (2017)
Vias was the first organisation in Belgium to test for several months an autonomous shuttle. During a period of three months we have been analysing different interactions between the vehicle and pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers to assess the safety behaviour of the vehicle.
Soon after that, we went a step further by testing shuttles on public roads at two touristic sites.
In 2018 the shuttle was riding for the first time in mixed traffic on public roads in Waterloo (the 1815 memorial). We faced an resolved a range of practical and administrative problems, such as registering and insuring the vehicle. Implementation of the service was possible following specific adaptations of the road infrastructure to ensure that road users could interact safely with the shuttle.
Also in 2018, in Han-sur-Lesse the shuttle created a liaison between a parking lot and the town centre. The service had to be designed to navigate into a large parking and bring visitors to the town. We successfully addressed additional obstacles such as road marking and parking management.
Recently Vias was also involved in several projects in Belgium (some are still ongoing): Gent- Maria Middelares Hospital (2020), Louvain-la-Neuve (2020), Brussels Airport (2020).
There are only few organizations in Belgium that have a lot of experience with autonomous shuttles. Vias had an important advisory role from the outset and proved to be the ideal, objective partner to discuss the state of affairs and differences in technology, feasibility of the project and points for attention. In addition, Vias has also facilitated contacts with the competent authorities so that the project could also be tested in accordance with the legal framework.
Maria Middelares
In order to prepare for the appearance of automated vehicles on our roads, Vias cooperated with the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport and regional public services, Agoria and FEBIAC in the development of a Good Practices Code for experimenting with driverless vehicles in Belgium. The focus was on recommendations to guarantee good levels of safety in tests conducted under real conditions.