Esch-sur-Alzette Replicator Site

Esch-sur-Alzette-logo

Esch-sur-Alzette counts 35,000 inhabitants and is the second most populated city in Luxembourg. The city is located on the French border, at south of Luxembourg City. In the past 10 years, Esch-sur-Alzette is giving a new life to the former industrial sites (it was a former steel production area), by transforming them into innovative urban living and working areas where industrial heritage, modern administrative and residential buildings coexist in perfect harmony. During the last few years, more and more technology companies, start-up incubators, medical laboratories, insurance companies, research institutes, banks and advertising agencies have settled on this site. Esch-sur-Alzette is also carrying the title “European Capital of Culture 2022”.

Esch-sur-Alzette has a railway line connecting Esch-sur-Alzette and its suburbs via three stations to Luxembourg City. Additionally, some bus lines are covering the town and connecting it to the whole country. Public transport in Luxembourg is composed of more than 180 regional lines operated by different transport operators, under the control of the government. Public transport inside Esch-sur-Alzette is under the control of and operated by the intermunicipal syndicate TICE (Transport intercommunal de personnes dans le canton d’Esch-sur-Alzette) and buses leaving this area are under the control of RGTR. However, transportation to the different residential areas is lacking due to low passenger demand as well as the fact that the streets in the residential areas are not suited to accommodate conventional-sized buses. Thus, most of the residents in Esch-sur-Alzette as well as commuters, students and visitors coming from outside are dependent on their individual car or taxis as their means of transport; this has worsened the traffic and parking situation to the point that people are avoiding the town centre; the business sector and the residential market are suffering from this situation.

The replicator site

To solve the mobility issues in the city center, the Esch-sur-Alzette replicator site relied on the deployment of an autonomous minibus in the main shopping street in the city centre. The work conducted by Sales-Lentz (SLA) as an AVENUE demonstrator allowed the Esch-sur-Alzette replicator site to benefit from the Legal work to get the necessary authorizations for further NAVYA autonomous minibus is facilitated as the technical specifications of this particular type of vehicle have already been validated by the Luxembourgish National Society of Automotive Vehicles (SNCA) and the necessary authorizations to operate on the planned route have been much easier and faster as this work has already been done previously. Along a 1.2km route crowded with pedestrians, this deployment offered a consistent service to the local population from Monday through Saturday, between 11:00 and 18:00. During the last 1.5 month of the AVENUE project, an on-demand service was established and the service hours were prolonged to 21:00. The whole service offered a connection between the existing public transport lines and was particularly helpful during the European Capital of Culture Esch 2022, was proposed from mid-2021 until the end of 2022. The service is still running.

Achievements

  • Confirmed the replicability of the demonstrators site
  • Filled the existing gap in public transport in the centre of Esch-sur-Alzette
  • Proved the feasibility of driving in high pedestrian density environments

A few numbers

  • 4,800km traveled
  • 11,600 passengers carried

Map of the Esch-sur-Alzette demonstration site

Video of the Esch-sur-Alzette demonstration site