Self-driving vehicles The future of goods deliveries is being tested on Bern's roads

In the city of Bern, a pilot project is testing how the fine distribution of goods on the last mile could be made more environmentally friendly and compatible with the city. The federal government has approved the trial by transport company Planzer and start-up Loxo.

The pilot operation will start in the last quarter of 2024, as announced by the municipal council of the city of Bern on Thursday. The trial envisages an automated, all-electric vehicle delivering goods in swap boxes from Planzer's Weyermannshaus site to defined goods handling points throughout the city along a predetermined route using a multi-stage process.

There, the swap boxes are reloaded onto electric tricycles by the transport company's delivery staff and the parcels are then distributed. This means that the so-called last mile to the neighborhoods in particular can be covered in a more environmentally friendly way.

Initially still a person at the wheel

For safety reasons, the degree of automation of the vehicle will only be gradually increased in the three-stage pilot operation. This means that a driver will initially still be at the wheel and can intervene.

If this phase goes well, there will only be an operator in the passenger seat. Only in the third phase is there no longer a person in the automated and remotely monitored transport vehicle.

Hope for new insights

The city of Bern is hoping that this trial will provide insights into the use of innovative technologies and new logistics solutions, as well as the risks and hurdles of automated driving and results in relation to the city's climate and transport policy.

"This pilot project is pioneering work to test how goods can be delivered in the future in the most environmentally friendly and neighborhood-friendly way possible," said Reto Nause (center), councillor of the City of Bern, in the press release.

Estimates suggest that the number of daily parcel deliveries could triple from around 20,000 in 2019 to 2040.

The city of Bern is not directly involved in the project, but is involved in the ongoing exchange of information. "We can benefit enormously from these findings and set the right course for the future at an early stage," said Mayor Alec von Graffenried (GFL) in the press release.

SDA