Starting as early as fall First Swiss municipality allows self-driving cars

Otelfingen in Zurich's Furttal valley is the first municipality in Switzerland to officially open its roads to self-driving cars. Four self-driving vehicles will be on the road as early as this fall.

A new era of mobility is beginning in the Furttal valley: Otelfingen is the first municipality in Switzerland to give the green light for self-driving cars on its roads. The corresponding permits were issued in close cooperation with the Federal Roads Office (Astra), the canton of Zurich and other project municipalities, according to the municipality. The "Zürcher Unterländer" initially reported on this.

Specifically, up to four electrically powered Nissan Ariya vehicles will be on the road from the fall as part of a pilot project - without a driver at the wheel. On board: passengers from the local population who will test the new service in everyday life.

The vehicles come from the Chinese-American company Weride, an international provider of autonomous driving technology. Weride already operates similar projects in the USA, Singapore, Dubai, China and at Zurich Airport.

Monitoring is guaranteed

Although the operation does not require a human driver, the vehicles are not completely unsupervised: central safety monitoring will be carried out from nearby Regensdorf. This will ensure that intervention is possible in the event of an emergency - but without the need for a person to be in the car.

The first project phase includes preparatory measures and initial journeys with a limited service. Other municipalities such as Boppelsen, Dänikon and Hüttikon have also already joined the project, with Buchs, Dällikon and Regensdorf set to follow.

The project organization is planning an expansion from 2026: automated minibuses will then also be used to supplement and expand the service in the Furttal valley.