Pony.ai and Croatian autonomous mobility company Verne have begun fully driverless Robotaxi test rides with passengers on public roads in Zagreb.
The tests mark the first time fully driverless passenger robotaxi rides have been conducted on public roads in Europe. The initial testing is taking place on a 22-kilometre route connecting Verne’s headquarters and a business district in Zagreb with Franjo Tuđman Airport.
The companies plan to expand the fully driverless routes over the coming months, with the aim of eventually covering Verne’s entire operating area in Zagreb.
The tests follow the launch of a commercial robotaxi service by Verne, Pony.ai and Uber in April 2026. Under the partnership, Pony.ai supplies the autonomous driving technology, Verne manages operations and Uber provides access to passengers through its platform.
Since the service began operating, the fleet has travelled more than 200,000 kilometres and completed several thousand customer journeys. The service has recorded an average passenger rating of 4.7 out of five, according to the company.
The Zagreb service previously operated with an autonomous vehicle operator onboard. The latest testing is intended to assess fully driverless operation with passengers on public roads.
Marko Pejković, CEO of Verne said:Five months ago, we launched Europe’s first commercial Robotaxi service. We are now taking the next step, moving from autonomous driving with an onboard AV operator toward fully driverless operations. This is a major milestone on the path to scaling autonomous mobility in Europe.
The test vehicles use Pony.ai’s seventh-generation Robotaxi, equipped with the company’s L4 autonomous driving system. The system uses a Pony.ai-developed domain controller based on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX and runs on the safety-certified DriveOS operating system.
The vehicles use 360-degree sensor coverage, redundancy and fail-operational systems as part of their safety architecture.
Dr. James Peng, Founder and CEO of Pony.ai said:Fully driverless passenger rides in Zagreb mark an important step in Pony.ai’s international growth. Together with Verne, we are demonstrating how Pony.ai’s Virtual Driver can combine with Verne’s local operating and passenger-service capabilities to support a scalable path to commercialisation. The progress in Zagreb provides a strong foundation for expanding fully driverless mobility across Europe and other international markets.
Pony.ai and Verne said the tests are part of their plans to develop fully driverless robotaxi operations in Europe.
