Autonomous transport in Groningen, Fryslân en Drenthe

The perfect region for autonomous transportation

The provinces of Drenthe, Fryslân and Groningen see autonomous transport as a way to maintain and improve accessibility and quality of life in the Northern Netherlands. This includes all transportation modalities: road, rail, water and air. The provinces work together with the aim of becoming the key (pilot) region for autonomous transportation.

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The perfect region for autonomous transportation

The provinces of Groningen, Fryslân and Drenthe see self-driving transport as a way to maintain and improve accessibility and liveability in the shrinkingregions. The provinces are working together to become the region for autonomous transport. They call on carriers, producers and knowledge institutes to come up with affordable, smart, flexible and sustainable concepts in the field of self-driving transport. This includes all transportation modalities: road, rail, water and air.

Space and support

The three provinces offer carriers, producers and knowledge institutes space and support in finding solutions for topics. These include, for example, door-to-door transport (‘last mile‘), care, tourism/recreation, improving mobility for the disabled, the elderly or children, or connecting to trains during rush hour, parcel delivery with drones or piloting ships. Ways are also being sought to strengthen the economic structure of the North and stimulate activity.

Why opt for the Northern Netherlands?

The Provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Fryslân jointly constitute a ‘living lab’ of over 11,000 km2 with a population of nearly 2 million, which is as many as, for example, the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht put together. The three provinces offer AT projects plenty of – literally – working space as well as opportunities to conduct all kinds of specific pilots. In this, they are prepared to take a flexible position and thereby facilitate innovative projects. The Northern Netherlands offers a peaceful and safe environment for the development and testing of concepts in both urban and rural areas. Subsequently, the concepts can also be applied elsewhere in similar situations.