WeRide Becomes First Robotaxi Operator Licensed in Eight Countries
- Switzerland has issued its first driverless permit for passenger transport, allowing WeRide Robotaxis to operate without a safety driver in the Furttal region.
- The company says it is now the only autonomous vehicle provider licensed in eight countries, with AV deployments in over 30 cities worldwide.
WeRide has received a driverless permit from Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office, allowing its robotaxi to operate without a safety driver on public roads in the Furttal region. It is the first permit of its kind for autonomous passenger transport in the country. The service will cover 110 kilometers with 460 stops, operating at speeds of up to 80 km/h.
The robotaxi rollout in Switzerland is part of the Intelligent Automated Mobility pilot program, a joint effort with Swiss Transit Lab, the Cantons of Zurich and Aargau, and Swiss Federal Railways. Fully driverless passenger service is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2026, followed by the introduction of robobuses into the fleet. Testing has started with onboard safety drivers, with remote monitoring to be introduced in the next phase.
According to WeRide, the Swiss permit makes it the only autonomous vehicle company licensed to operate in eight countries, including Switzerland, China, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, France, Belgium, and the United States. The company says its autonomous vehicles have been tested or deployed in more than 30 cities across 11 countries. WeRide began operating in Switzerland with a robobus shuttle service for Zurich Airport employees in June 2025, followed in October by personnel training for fully driverless operations.
🌀 Tom’s Take:
Hitting eight countries feels like a real line in the sand for robotaxis and shows regulators around the world are starting to align on scaled autonomy.
Source: GlobeNewswire / WeRide
