France sets out approval plan and pilot projects for autonomous transport

France’s transport minister Philippe Tabarot presented government priorities for autonomous vehicles at an industry meeting on 23 October, according to the transport ministry. The event brought together 250 participants from road transport and mobility businesses, local authorities, professional groups, unions, research and transport operators. The ministry framed the next stage as a move from experiments towards operational services, subject to a demanding safety framework.

The ministry said it would prepare a national approval doctrine for autonomous vehicles in the first half of 2027. The Centre national de réception des véhicules will lead the work, using step-by-step validation and safety monitoring throughout a vehicle’s life. France will also pursue European cooperation on approvals. The ministry said the Pact for Europe coalition of transport authorities was launched in Paris on 7 October after two years of preparation and currently has 22 signatories. A separate EU test-site initiative is intended to harmonize authorization procedures, while France said it would exchange with other countries on recognition of its future approval doctrine.

The government linked deployment to public transport access in rural and peri-urban areas, where autonomous shuttles could supplement existing networks and connect passengers to major routes. It cited an October Harris Interactive study finding that nearly two thirds of French respondents said they were willing to use fully automated public transport. The ministry did not provide the survey sample size or methodology in this release, so the result is reported as the ministry’s summary of the study rather than a standalone measure of national demand.

Île-de-France Mobilités said it would launch the region’s first passenger public-transport service using autonomous vehicles. The ministry described a pilot for early 2028 around Versailles Grand Parc, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Paris-Saclay, with progressive expansion targeted from 2030. Separately, the City of Clichy, taxi company G7 and vehicle supplier Milla announced work on a possible electric autonomous-vehicle service for first- and last-mile journeys, including trips to rail and metro stations. The ministry also reported a proposed Grand Paris pilot involving the Métropole du Grand Paris, Bolt and Stellantis, potentially extending to around 30 municipalities by 2030; the launch is envisaged from 2028 and remains a plan, not an operating service.

For freight and delivery, the ministry said small electric delivery vehicles and robots had been authorized on French roads since 7 August 2026. It plans to study, with the interior ministry and local governments, conditions for small autonomous robots to travel in pedestrian spaces and on sidewalks. It also intends to create a single state contact point to simplify administrative procedures for companies, transport operators and local authorities. The announcements set out intended policy and project timelines; the release did not report operating results, passenger volumes or confirmed deployment contracts.