SAINT-DONAT SUR L’HERBASSE, France–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regulatory News:
beti, Macif, NAVYA (FR0013018041- Navya) (Paris:NAVYA) and VINCI Construction through its subsidiary SVMS, have been awarded the Automated Road Mobility tender (Appel à Projets Mobilités Routières Automatisées) launched by the French government as part of its 4th Investment of the Future Program (PIA4) – France 2030.
The tender was launched in response to the fact that 85% of the rural population of France does not have direct access to public transportation. The consortium made up of beti, Macif, NAVYA and VINCI Construction aims to provide a concrete solution to the challenges involved in providing inclusive mobility to people and goods in rural areas.
Seven automated vehicles, four of which will be driverless, will be rolled out in France for the first time.
The joint project will provide the Crest Val de Drôme rural area with an Inclusive Automated Mobility Network (Réseau Inclusif de Mobilité Automatisé or RIMA), which consists of seven self-driving shuttles deployed over a route of 50 km2.
The members of the consortium will pool their skills to deliver a turnkey solution which covers developing self-driving shuttles, building the infrastructure and operating the service to meet the needs and expectations of the end users and stakeholders, including the local communities, companies, associations, inhabitants and users.
- beti, an automated mobility network operator specializing in tourist zones and rural areas, will be in charge of acquiring and operating the vehicle fleet.
- The MACIF, a leading mutual insurance company for mobility and top French car insurance provider(1) , has been leading the Movin’On ecosystem since 2019. It consists of a community of interest dedicated to self-driving vehicles that brings together 12 companies(2) that have been working together for the last three years on the principle “autonomy for all and mobility for all via the shared self-driving shuttle“. The MACIF’s role in the RIMA project will be to insure the shuttles and to analyze the acceptability level of the driverless network.
- Navya, a global autonomous mobility systems leader, will provide the beti shuttles equipped with Navya Drive® autonomous driving packs and supervise putting them into service.
- VINCI Construction’s subsidiary SVMS (Signature Vertical & Mobility Solutions) will be in charge of engineering, production and the maintenance of infrastructure and road signs.
- Leading insurance company in 2021 in number of automobile contracts in France.
- The autonomous vehicle community of interest initiated by Macif includes 12 companies: beti, BNP Paribas Cardif, Forvia, Kantar, MACIF, MAIF, Michelin, Microsoft, NAVYA, Orange, SNCF et VINCI.
A fundamental necessity confirmed by a special study carried out by the community of interest dedicated to self-driving vehicles within the framework of the Movin’On ecosystem set up by the Macif
The study, carried out in 2021 with 1,090 respondents drawn from local officials, demonstrates the advantage of shared autonomous mobility serving rural and peri-urban areas which do not have access to public transportation. As the only means of locomotion remains all too often the private car, the self-driving shuttle will provide a concrete mobility solution to those people who have been neglected up until now, while helping to alleviate social and regional divides.
From trial to large-scale pilot project
The RIMA project is the continuation of the trials that were carried out jointly by beti, Navya and VINCI’s subsidiary Eurovia in 2020 and 2021 in Val de Drôme, when a self-driving shuttle was deployed over a route of 9.6 km between Crest railroad station and the Val de Drôme Ecosite.
Four types of mobility will be offered to sustain the sparsely populated region economically and to provide a service to its inhabitants:
- Daily mobility,
- Health-based mobility,
- Inclusive mobility,
- Tourism-based mobility.
Benjamin Beaudet, Managing Director of beti: “As a leading partner in the RIMA project, beti is particularly proud to be a part of the upswing in autonomous mobility for all and to be able to bring about its vision of mobility in a rural setting. Our ambition is to attract people and businesses back the regions by introducing innovative mobility solutions that integrate seamlessly in the existing road networks, while providing a service. Autonomous mobility will also combat insecurity in terms of access to public services, employment, culture and shopping, which has always been our driving force. Along with our partners, who are all well known for their commitment to sustainable, shared and inclusive mobility, we will apply ourselves with professionalism and passion to prove that autonomous mobility has a guaranteed future in the regions.”
Jean-Philippe Dogneton, CEO of the Macif: “As the mutualist partner for all types of mobility, we keep a watchful eye on the development of use cases and evolving needs. The MACIF will support the large scale development of autonomous mobility in rural areas, while promoting French excellence. As a member of the consortium behind RIMA and in line with the objectives of the PIA4, one of the key values of the MACIF is its solid commitment to the common good. We express it by contributing to autonomous mobility everywhere and for everyone, taking into account the needs specific to rural areas and their inhabitants. If the new types of mobility bring about equality between urban zones and rural areas, this will also result in national sovereignty in these ecosystems.”
Sophie Desormière, CEO of NAVYA: “Mobility is a universal fundamental right and it’s essential that the transition toward sustainable models fosters progress that is not only environmental but also societal. Envisioning the future of mobility means adopting a solution that is green, shared and inclusive. 85% of the rural population of France has no other choice but to use their private cars to get about. With self-driving shuttles we are now in a position to provide a tangible alternative to solo driving, not only in towns, but also in rural areas, and this is what we intend to demonstrate with our partners beti, MACIF and VINCI Construction via the RIMA project. The objective shared by each member of the consortium is to roll out 15 automated vehicles by 2025, providing an innovative mobility experience to 50,000 plus inhabitants of the three community groupings situated in the Valley of the Drôme.”
François Chevallier, CEO of SVMS: “SVMS’s vocation within VINCI Construction is to provide urban and open road journeys with ever more safety, fluidity and comfort, and this is precisely what we mean to deliver within the framework of the RIMA project. As mobility continues to evolve in an overall context of ever more connected intermodality, SVMS needs to be at the heart of the most innovative projects like autonomous mobility. We have a clear role to play in the management and supervision of road infrastructure and are pleased to contribute to the upswing in new types of mobility by lending our expertise to automated driving systems and the comfort of their users”.
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About beti :
beti is a spin off of bertolami, a family-run firm that has been a mobility operator in the rural regions of France for 70 years. Since 2019 beti has been deploying automated mobility networks in sparsely populated regions and tourist areas. It has participated in two world premiers, namely the operation of Navya self-driving shuttles on the flat surfaces of the Val Thorens ski resort and the provision of automated rural mobility over the whole of the Crest Val de Drôme area. beti uses a systematic approach to develop its expertise in association with players such as Eurovia, a subsidiary of the VINCI Group, and the MACIF, leader of the autonomous vehicle community of interest within Movin’On.
For further information: www.navette-autonome.fr
About Macif :
The MACIF is a mutualist insurance group with customer base of 5,7 million members and clients. It offers simple and practical damage, health and welfare, and financing and saving insurance cover. With more than 18 million contracts, the group’s turnover attained almost €6 million in 2021. The MACIF has a headcount of 11,000, entirely employed on French territory. This year the group was crowned Top Employer 2022 and elected France’s favorite brand in the category Insurance Companies.
Since January 2021 the MACIF has been part of the Aéma Group, the result of a merger with Aésio Mutuelle, which strives toward a fairer and more humane world, putting consideration for others at the heart of its relations with its members and its customers.
For further information visit www.macif.fr.
For further information: www.macif.fr
About Movin’On
Movin’On is the world’s leading ecosystem for strategic anticipation and co-innovation with the objective of promoting sustainable mobility. It brings together more than 300 key stakeholders in the field of sustainable mobility, both public and private, collective and individual: multinationals, startups, cities, countries, communities, international organizations and academics.
Movin’On facilitates market prediction, speeds up co-innovation and fosters the deployment of concrete solutions for more sustainable mobility.
Throughout the year the Movin’On ecosystem organizes events, both virtual and in person with a view to moving its projects forward.
For further information: www.movinonconnect.com
About NAVYA
Navya is a leading French company that specializes in the supply of autonomous mobility systems and related services. It was founded in 2014 and has a total of 280 employees in France (Paris and Lyon), in the United States (Michigan) and in Singapore. Navya’s aim is to become the benchmark provider of level 4 autonomous mobility systems for the transportation of people and goods. The company achieved a world first when it launched its Autonom® Shuttle for passengers in 2015. Since that year and up until 31 December 2021, more than 200 vehicles were sold in 25 countries. In 2021 Navya launched its industry equivalent, the Autonom® Tract, a tractor for the transportation of goods. The company is firmly and actively committed to CSR, and it was awarded the ISO 9001 certification in September 2021. The Valeo and Keolis groups count among Navya’s historical shareholders.
Navya is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- Navya).
For further information: www.navya.tech
About VINCI Construction:
VINCI Construction is one of the world’s leading players in construction, in the field of transport infrastructure, buildings, networks and urban development. VINCI Construction relies on a network of local subsidiaries, a network of specialties and specific expertise on major infrastructure projects. VINCI Construction companies are involved throughout the life cycle of a structure (financing, design, construction, maintenance). Present in more than 100 countries, its 1,300 companies employ more than 115,000 people and achieved a turnover of 26.3 billion euros in 2021.
For further information: www.vinci-construction.com
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.