Gipuzkoa presents a pioneering autonomous mobility project that seeks to transform the transport alternatives in small municipalities

The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa has presented this morning in Abaltzisketa Landago, the project to develop an advanced model of autonomous mobility in the rural environment. This is a sustainable vehicle which, in the pilot test phase, will circulate autonomously in the coming months between the municipalities of Abaltzisketa and Amezketa. It will be tested in this environment with the aim of transforming mobility in the rural areas of Gipuzkoa, complementing the public transport system in order to meet the needs of the citizens who live in these towns.

The pilot project will be launched this November. The selected area represents the typical challenges of the rural environment of Gipuzkoa, such as slopes, sharp bends and variable road conditions. These characteristics will allow the feasibility of the technology to be evaluated in a complex environment, as well as to extract critical data for future implementations. The inhabitants of these two municipalities will be able to test the prototype during the test days that will be set up between March and August 2025 so that, as part of this experimentation phase, they can share their impressions in order to make progress in adapting the vehicle to the needs of future users.

The Deputy General, Eider Mendoza, took part in the presentation of this initiative, together with the Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects and President of MUBIL, Ane Insausti, the Deputy for Green Territorial Balance, Xabier Arruti, the mayors of Abaltzisketa, Amezketa, Zerain and Segura, Jon Zubizarreta, Mikel Arteaga, Gorky Urteaga and Izarra Urdalleta, Gorky Urteaga and Izarra Urdalleta;  the mayors of Abaltzisketa, Amezketa, Zerain and Segura, Jon Zubizarreta, Mikel Arteaga, Gorka Urteaga and Izarra Urdalleta, respectively; the project coordinator, Iñaki Aizpurua; and Oihana Otaegi, director of the transport and security division at Vicomtech and Sara Ahetze Puignau, technical director of BCCAM.

The Department of Green Territorial Balance and the Department of Economic Promotion and Innovation are the promoters of the Landago initiative. A public-private project that also has the collaboration of the Basque Government, through its Department of Safety, the Intelligent and Sustainable Mobility Hub MUBIL, Dominion, Vicomtech, BasqueCCAM and Eurogap. This alliance not only seeks to improve rural mobility but also to consolidate Gipuzkoa as a benchmark in autonomous technology and sustainable mobility, placing it at the forefront of projects that promote smarter, safer and more accessible transport.

Pilot project and phases

After the first pilot test that will take place as part of the enabling phase, on the route between Abaltzisketa and Amezketa, a new test will be carried out between Zerain and Segura between August and December 2025. In this second test, the lessons learned on the stretch between Abaltzisketa and Amezketa will be applied and more data will be collected in an environment that presents greater challenges for autonomous driving. This step will be repeated on each new route in order to make progress in adapting the service to local needs and optimise the model in each phase.

After the enabling phase, it is expected that from mid-August to the end of 2026 the necessary infrastructures and conditions will be developed and prepared so that, from mid-2026, the first implementation and operation tests can be carried out with an autonomous electric vehicle between the sections of Abaltzisketa and Amezketa and Zerain and Segura.

Subsequently, work will continue on extending the project and the collaboration of companies so that by 2030 a rural mobility model will be available in Gipuzkoa.