Candiac, August 10, 2018 – Keolis Canada and the City of Candiac, with the manufacturer NAVYA, financial support from the Québec Government, the collaboration of Propulsion Québec, the Cluster for Electric and Smart Transportation and the Technopôle IVÉO are pleased to officially announce the first long-term demonstration project of a 100% electric autonomous shuttle on public roads in Canada. The NAVYA Autonom Shuttle will operate in mixed traffic, this is a first step towards integrating autonomous shuttles into shared transportation solutions, in addition to complement the existing transport offer. The pilot project will begin in the summer 2018 for a period of 12 months, including 8 months at the service of citizens. During the winter, a research and development project to test the shuttle in Québec cold weather conditions will take place without passengers on board.

For this project, Keolis has obtained financial support of 350,000 $ from the Ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation as part of the measure to support demonstration projects in the action plan in favor of the industry of ground transportation and sustainable mobility.

The NAVYA Autonom Shuttle will operate along a two-km route between the exo park-and-ride lot and the bus terminal and the intersection of Marie-Victorin and Montcalm North Boulevards with several stops along the way, including City Hall, retirement housing and local businesses. The shuttle will also allow employees in the area to reach their workplaces from the bus terminal. In addition, the CAA-Québec Foundation for road safety, with the support of partners, is evaluating the possibility of conducting and independent study on road safety and social acceptance in this project. The lessons learnt would offer precious insights with a clear goal of maintaining, without condition, harmony between vehicles sharing the road.

“Keolis Canada has strong expertise in developing mobility solutions tailored to different communities and improving passengers’ travel options and habits. The autonomous electric shuttle complements Candiac’s existing transportation offer and is yet another step towards integrated intermodal transportation services,” says Marie Hélène Cloutier, Vice-President, Passenger Experience, Marketing & Sales for Keolis Canada. Patrick Gilloux, President and Chief Operating Officer of Keolis Canada adds: “We are very excited to launch this project in Québec. Keolis is investing in new shared electric mobility services because it is an important cornerstone for the future of public transportation.”

“Candiac places great importance on public and active transport. We are constantly working to provide additional multimodal transportation options while remaining steadfastly focused on the notions of sustainable development and the smart city. A true showcase of technological advancements, the autonomous electric shuttle project put forth by Keolis Canada and NAVYA is perfectly aligned with our vision in terms of innovation and is at the heart of our 2014–2029 strategic development plan. We are extremely proud to be the first city in Canada to move forward with a project of this nature,” stated Normand Dyotte, Mayor of Candiac.

“NAVYA is proud to work with our partner Keolis Canada and the City of Candiac on this important milestone in Canadian transportation. This project embodies NAVYA’s vision of autonomous shared mobility and fills an important transportation need for which our shuttles were designed. We commend Québec for its collaborative efforts to complement existing transportation options,” says NAVYA’s CEO, Christophe Sapet. “NAVYA is an ideal partner for municipalities that take a sustainable and viable approach to transportation. Our autonomous shuttles are operating in 17 countries, and we’re pleased to welcome Canada to the list of forward-thinking nations.”

“The autonomous shuttle project in Candiac is a first in several ways for the electric and smart transportation industry of Québec. One of the main benefits of autonomous transportation is to improve passengers’ experience, especially within areas that are not currently served by collective transport offer, such as the first and last kilometers of a trip, without having to add heavy infrastructures,” says Sarah Houde, Executive Director of Propulsion Québec. “This progress will also contribute to the development and adoption of a regulatory framework, practices and public policies that will foster the development, testing and marketing of electric and intelligent vehicles, one of Propulsion Québec’s principal mandates. This is a great achievement that will benefit the community and members of the Cluster.”

“IVÉO is pleased to contribute to the development of this demonstration project. It is important for us to respond to all types of mobility issues in small and medium-sized cities. With this project, we address Candiac’s specific concerns, and we are able to make the right link between the service offered by Keolis and the municipality’s decision-makers. Québec’s presence in the new mobility ecosystem is crucial, and this is a good example of what we can do in a collaborative environment,” adds Benoit Balmana, Chief Executive at IVÉO.

“The CAA-Québec Foundation for road safety is particularly interested to study the different considerations that the arrival of this new autonomous mobility on our roads rise and, incidentally, to road sharing at large. The impact on users, being pedestrians, cyclists or car drivers, must be evaluated for a harmonious and safe road sharing. Therefore, we are seriously considering the possibility to measure social acceptance of this autonomous mobility as part of such a stimulating and promising project”, underlines Marco Harrison, director of the CAA-Québec Foundation.

More information on video here: https://youtu.be/P7tHp38Clis

 

 

The NAVYA Autonom Shuttle

With a capacity of 15 passengers and operating at a speed of approximately 25 km/hr, the autonomous electric shuttle facilitates access and travel, saving time for both public transit users and passengers on private sites. NAVYA counts 25 international projects, with Keolis, the company has tested the vehicle in multiple environments: in France, in Lyon since 2016 and in Paris at the Charles de Gaulle airport where the shuttle crosses a high traffic open road, in Australia in the suburbs of the capital Adelaide, in the United-States in Las Vegas, etc. With the autonomous shuttle, Keolis has already safely transported near 110,000 passengers worldwide. Ideal for urban areas and specific locations, such as airports, industrial facilities, amusement parks, hotel complexes and hospitals, it has been designed and developed to improve and to smooth initial and final stages of a trip.

About the City of Candiac

Candiac has earned a reputation for being a peaceful, safe city that cares about the quality of life of its citizens, who are increasingly seeking a place where they and their families can thrive. Located near the metropolis, it offers an environment and services of very high quality. The city has many green spaces, an urban forest of 17,000 trees and kilometres of walking and cycling trails, making it a place where citizens live in harmony with nature. With a population of 21,000, Candiac offers both the tranquility of a small municipality and easy access to a range of services. The proximity, availability and great diversity of its services are the benefits of being part of growing urban environment. Candiac has developed a variety of green projects over the years to provide its citizens with ecological solutions and a forward-thinking environmental vision. Through these new innovative initiatives, Candiac has confirmed its position as a leader in sustainable development. 

About Keolis Canada

Leading the way in public transport, the Keolis Group develops customized mobility solutions adapted to the changing needs of passengers and to the requirements of the communities it serves. Internationally recognized as the leading operator of light rail services and automated metro, Keolis adopts a determined innovation approach with all its partners and subsidiaries to develop new forms of shared and customized mobility, and reinforces its core business across a range of transport modes including trains, buses, cars, trolleybuses, shared private hire vehicles, river shuttles, ferries, cycles, car sharing services, autonomous electric vehicles and urban cable cars.

Keolis in Canada specializes in intercity, urban, school, accessible, airport, charter and light rail transportation services. Keolis offers safe and reliable high-quality service thanks to a team of over 900 experienced employees. Keolis operates a fleet of 410 vehicles in Canada, of which 14 Light Rail Vehicles with the future operations of Keolis Grand River, Ontario. Every year, Keolis transports almost 10 million passengers and over 1 million packages in Canada.

Keolis is a major player in the public transportation of passengers in Europe and around the world. Today, over 3 billion passengers worldwide have used one of the shared mobility services offered by Keolis.

The Keolis Group is owned by SNCF (70%) and Caisse de dépôt et placements du Québec (30%). Keolis employs 63,000 people in 16 countries and recorded a turnover of 5.4 billion euros (8.7 billion Canadian dollars) in 2017.

About NAVYA

NAVYA is a leading French name in the autonomous vehicle market and in smart shared mobility solutions. With more than 200 employees in France (Paris and Lyon) and in the United States (Michigan), NAVYA develops, manufactures and commercializes autonomous, driverless, and electric vehicles that combine robotic, digital and driving technologies at the highest level.

Since 2015, NAVYA has been the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions, shuttles and cabs. NAVYA has a range of two autonomous vehicles: the AUTONOM® SHUTTLE, launched in September 2015, of which more than 100 have already been produced as of today and 89 sold in 17 countries as of June 30, 2018, notably in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Australia, and the AUTONOM® CAB, unveiled in November 2017 and whose first road tests will start shortly.

Created in 2014 by Christophe Sapet and Robolution Capital 1 (managed by 360 Capital Partners), his reference shareholder, NAVYA’s shareholders also include the Gravitation fund and Paris Region Venture Fund (Région Île-de-France) managed by CapDecisif Management as well as Valeo and Keolis groups.

NAVYA is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- NAVYA).

About Propulsion Québec

Québec’s smart and electric vehicle cluster rallies the entire electric and smart vehicle sector around joint projects aimed at positioning Québec as a leader in smart and electric land transportation systems. Created in 2017, Propulsion Québec currently has 98 members from a variety of sectors and deploys its resources across seven distinct working groups tasked with developing and supporting innovating projects. The cluster receives financial support from the Government of Québec, the Government of Canada and Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM).

About Technopôle IVÉO

IVÉO is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support small and medium cities in deploying innovative mobility solutions on their territory. IVÉO specializes in developing pilot projects that will shape tomorrow’s transportation to make it more efficient, more sustainable and safer. IVÉO currently includes more than 15 municipalities and numerous innovative companies in its network. 

About the CAA-Quebec Foundation

The mission of the CAA-Quebec Foundation, created in 2008, is to help advance knowledge in the area of traffic safety. To that end, it conducts research and acts as a resource complementing other Québec-based specialists and organizations active in the field. CAA-Quebec, a non-profit organization, provides all of its members with peace of mind by offering them high-quality automotive, travel, residential and insurance benefits, products and services.

 

Source: 

Marie Hélène Cloutier

Vice-President, Passenger Experience, Marketing & Sales, Keolis Canada

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