Driverless Cars Hit the Road: Europe Tests Future of Smart City Travel

Post by : Ramanpreet Kaur

Driverless cars could soon change the way we travel in cities across Europe. With the help of the European Union, a new project is testing self-driving electric cars as part of public transport systems. The goal is to make city travel cleaner, safer, cheaper, and easier for everyone.

In Oslo, Norway, five self-driving electric cars started carrying passengers around the Groruddalen area in February 2025. This is the first part of a big project called ULTIMO, which is working to create the world’s first large-scale, on-demand public transport using driverless cars.

The EU is supporting this project through a public-private partnership, investing around €500 million in developing smart and automated transport. The aim is to provide safer, greener, and more inclusive ways for people to get around, while also helping European companies grow in this field.

What makes ULTIMO special is that it focuses on “demand-responsive” transport. This means the cars don’t follow a fixed route like regular buses or subways. Instead, they go where passengers need them, based on bookings made through an app.

After Oslo, two more trial runs will take place — one in Herford, Germany, and another in the Greater Champagne area in Switzerland. The project team includes transport companies, city transport authorities, universities, and tech firms from seven EU countries, plus Norway and Switzerland.

The self-driving cars use advanced technology such as cameras, radar, and 3D maps to navigate through specific zones safely. At the moment, a human operator still sits inside the car for safety. But in the future, these cars are expected to run on their own with remote supervision from control centers.

In Oslo, passengers can now use an app to book a luxury electric car — the Nio ES8 — that drives itself. It’s free for now, as part of testing. The team plans to include more vehicles over time, especially those made in Europe.

Christian Willoch from Ruter, Oslo’s public transport authority, said they hope to have 500 such vehicles one day. That would help reduce the number of private cars on the road. He added that this system, once scaled up, could be cheaper than owning a car.

The project is about more than just technology. It’s also about giving people better access to transport — especially in areas where buses and trains are less available. Andreas Fehr, a project consultant from Deutsche Bahn, said this could help people in suburbs and rural areas who struggle with transport.

Challenges still exist. The cars must become better at handling unexpected events on the road. New rules and standards are also needed so that different driverless systems can work together and connect with regular transport like trains and buses.

But if successful, these driverless cars could change city travel for good. People may no longer need to own cars, and cities could become cleaner and less crowded.

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