Terhills Shuttle Fleet Expands to Become Autonomous Bus Line with the Largest Transport Capacity in Europe: 5 Driverless Shuttles Transport over 200 Passengers per Hour
Tourist hotspot Terhills is the first and only site in Belgium to have a fully autonomous transport system.
After a successful one-year pilot phase, its existing fleet of driverless shuttles is now being expanded to 5 fully autonomous vehicles, without any human attendant on board, under remote supervision.
This is a major milestone, as in Europe there are already some fleet projects with driverless shuttles, but each time with a safety attendant on board. A key differentiator at Terhills is the fleet being supervized remotely. In further contrast to existing, other operations, it is also a real service, not a test or innovation project. Unlike the pilot phase (which was conducted with the cooperation of Flanders Make and De Lijn), the operation of the shuttles is not subsidized, but funded by LRM, Terhills and the partners on the site: Terhills Hotel, Terhills Cablepark, Terhills Resort by Centerparcs and Elaisa Wellness. This keeps the use of the shuttles free for visitors.
The longevity and commercial nature of the service is the first of its kind in the autonomous shuttle industry.
At peak times, the shuttles will carry more than 200 passengers per hour. This transport initiative started in 2022 as a pilot project with support from the ERDF and the Flemish Departments of Mobility & Public Works, and Economy. The effective operation of the shuttles is financed by LRM, Terhills and the partners at the tourism experience site: Terhills Hotel, Terhills Cablepark, Terhills Resort by Centerparcs and Elaisa Wellness.
Every year, approximately 1 million visitors and overnight guests descend upon the Terhills tourist experience site in Dilsen-Stokkem and Maasmechelen. The site covers 356 hectares and has many attractions, including Terhills Resort, Terhills Hotel, Terhills Cable Park, Bistro Bureau Bouveau, Elaisa Wellness and the main gateway to the National Park. To efficiently and experientially move all tourists and guests between the attraction points on this expansive site, LRM – the Limburg investment company behind the Terhills project – decided to go with self-driving shuttles.
Tim De Ceunynck, Mobility Project Manager at LRM, said:Our driverless shuttles are at least as safe as vehicles with a human driver.
This transport initiative started in 2022 as a pilot project with support from the ERDF and the Flemish Departments of Mobility & Public Works, and Economy. In the pilot phase, 2 shuttles traveled along a 4.5km route stopping at all the attractions. Each shuttle accommodates 12 passengers and is wheelchair accessible. After a positive evaluation, LRM has now decided to permanently anchor the transport system at Terhills, and expand the existing fleet.
Tim De Ceunynck, Mobility Project Manager at LRM, added:Over the past few months, we built a staging area and shuttle stops, and carried out some optimizations on the shuttle track. This will allow us to transport hundreds of thousands of visitors in an experiential, safe and efficient manner at Terhills in the coming years.
Our satisfaction measurements during the pilot phase have already shown that passengers are very satisfied with this transport system, and that they feel very safe even without a steward on board. The latter is also justified, as a safety analysis by an independent third party has confirmed that our driverless shuttles are at least as safe as vehicles with a human driver.
Tom Vanham, General Manager of LRM, said:The transportation offer at Terhills already included electric boats, e-steps, e-bikes, electric golf carts and the buggy for the sporty.
This autonomous bus line is the icing on our sustainable transportation cake. As an SDG Ambassador, we are also proud to once again play a pioneering role, as we are one of the only ones in Europe to roll out such an autonomous transport system. And also the transport capacity of over 200 passengers per hour at peak times is unprecedented in Europe. In addition, with this transportation project we offer unique opportunities to companies that want to develop technologies, equipment or software for driverless vehicles. Since Terhills is private land, it can perfectly serve as a living lab to test innovative transportation systems.
Jo Brouns, Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation, said:This is the third time I come here and each time to inaugurate the next phase of the innovation project. I have seen this project grow over 2 years, from the first steps with supervizor on board, over the fully driverless test phase, to a tried and tested and anchored example of Flemish innovation strength. With this, we demonstrate once again that we in Limburg are particularly strong in innovative mobility.
Driverless vans, tele-controlled vehicles, smart traffic lights: all things about which we have a project running in our province. This is how we are working today on tomorrow's mobility!
Gilbert Gagnaire, CEO and founder of EasyMile, concludes:This milestone underscores our expertise in autonomous solutions for commercial use. The expansion of the fleet with remote supervision not only proves that the technology is on point, but also positions Terhills as a textbook example of using innovative, autonomous transport to increase efficiency. Meanwhile, we continue to pave the way so that autonomous mobility is integrated in as many places as possible throughout Europe and beyond.
This article was originally published by EasyMile.
