WeRide has announced that its robotaxi has received a driverless permit from Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), authorizing it to operate autonomously on public roads in the Furttal region of Zurich. This is the first driverless robotaxi permit (for passengers) issued in Switzerland.
With this approval, WeRide becomes the world’s first company with vehicles holding autonomous driving permits in eight countries.
Under this permit, WeRide robotaxis may conduct fully driverless commercial operations as part of the Intelligent Automated Mobility (IAMO) pilot once testing is complete. Led by the Swiss Transit Lab (STL) in collaboration with the cantons of Zurich and Aargau and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), IAMO aims to explore how autonomous vehicles (AVs) could be integrated into public transportation systems to improve local mobility, strengthen last-mile connectivity and promote more efficient, sustainable transportation. The vehicles will serve a 110km operating area with around 460 stops, at speeds of up to 80km/h.
WeRide and its partners have begun AV testing with an onboard safety driver, in partnership with a local driving school, after completing extensive field preparations. Testing is underway across multiple locations in Furttal, including Boppelsen, Otelfingen, Buchs, Dänikon, Würenlos, Killwangen, Hüttikon, Dällikon and Regensdorf. During this phase, the robotaxis will complete adaptive driving sessions under varying traffic and weather conditions to ensure full compliance with Swiss road regulations.
Upon successful testing in cooperation with FEDRO, WeRide will begin fully driverless testing, with vehicles remotely monitored from a central support center operated by Eurobus, Switzerland’s largest private bus company.
After achieving the necessary requirements, including mileage benchmarks, WeRide plans to launch fully driverless public passenger service in the first half of 2026, and subsequently expand the fleet to include robobuses – establishing Switzerland’s first mixed AV fleet of robotaxis and robobuses.
In related news, Abu Dhabi awards city-level fully driverless robotaxi permit to WeRide