Autonomous cars on tour through Lenningen and Canach

Since last weekend, autonomous cars have been able to use public roads in Luxembourg for the first time. Minister Minister Yuriko Backes (DP) has the company Pony.ai Europe Sàrl. permission granted to carry out test drives in public transport.

The approval is initially limited to the municipal area of ​​Lenningen, where the bus company Emile Weber is based. Emile Weber cooperates for the test drives with pony.ai.

Autonomous, however, does not mean unmanned in the now running phase: human drivers sit in each of the three test vehicles who can intervene in an emergency. In addition, the autonomous vehicles are marked by signs. Minister Backes sees a milestone in approval for autonomous driving. « This is an important innovation that can change our everyday life, » says a press release from the Ministry of Mobility. The minister added the potential to make mobility more secure and efficient.

The US company Pony.ai sees itself as the global market leader in autonomous driving. In September, Pony.ai opened its European headquarters at Technoport in Belval. In several countries, the technology company conducts test drives, sometimes even without human drivers.