Next summer, three autonomous shuttles will connect a train station to the Musée Giverny Impressionismes, dedicated to the history of the Impressionist painting movement and adjacent to the home and garden of Claude Monet, one of its leading lights. A multiparty collaboration in the name of culture and mobility, the project brings together public and private players, including Seine Normandie Agglomération, Transdev Autonomous Transport System (ATS), Transdev Normandie and NextMove, a competitiveness cluster.
The Navettes Innovantes Modulaires du Futur Expérimentales et Autonomes (NIMFEA) or Experimental and Autonomous Innovative Modular Shuttles of the Future will run between the communes of Vernon and Giverny, spanning the River Seine in the north of France. The operation brings together public and private partners for a unique mobility-of-the-future service, open to inhabitants, commuters and tourists.
The shuttle will operate from April to October 2022, on a 12-kilometer round trip, one of the longest routes on mixed open roads ever tested by this type of self-driving vehicle, according to operator Easy Mile. The route combines the urban area around the train station Vernon-Giverny in Vernon which includes mixed traffic, roundabouts and pedestrians. It will then cross a bridge to meet a regional road for the final segment of the route to the museum area in the neighboring village of Giverny.
The neighborhood is also home to the Muséum de Mecanique Naturelle, dedicated to the restoration and display of of engines, tractors and vintage cars, and the Musée Alphonse-Georges-Poulain, exhibiting additional Impressionist paintings by Monet, Pierre Bonnard and others.
According to representatives of EasyMile, being able to connect these two areas, which involves crossing complex traffic junctions and establishing a compatible speed, is a sign of the maturity of this driverless technology. It will alaso considerably improve the access to the cultural sites in this rural area, by making a direct link between the urban zone and train station.
The service will be operated by three EasyMile 12-passenger driverless shuttles.
