Self-driving shuttles debut in Belgian tourism experience

Terhills is an ex-industrial site turned resort located close to Maasmechelen and Belgium’s Mechelse Heide National Park

Starting in November, visitors to Belgium’s Terhills tourist resort will now be able to get around using self-driving shuttles. The shuttles will run 7 days a week, and the pilot project will last for one year.

Terhills is a unique Belgian tourist offer, as the resort occupies a now-defunct industrial site – a former gravel quarry. Additionally, Terhills is situated close to the city of Maasmechelen and Belgium’s only national park Mechelse Heide.

The former Eisden mining site was gradually turned into a tourism resort that opened in 2021. The site has been supported by the Flemish Government, as well as the Limburg Investment Company, a local public investment company focused on development. The site sits at a great location, primed to let visitors experience the pristine and lush nature of the country. It includes easy access to the Velux Lake and many footpaths in the national park.

Transport in Terhills

Terhills has a holistic transport scheme that centres on sustainable mobility. The complex is linked through calm roads, that accommodate small electric shuttles, electric golf carts and bicycles. Now, self-driving shuttles will enter the mix, bringing mobility to the next level.

The project is sponsored by the Flemish government, as well as the European Regional Development Fund and the Limburg Company, with the bill for the self-driving shuttles sitting at 4 million euros.

The costs will be covered in the span of 10 years. As for the shuttles, they will service a single 2.5-kilometre route, which will pass through the Terhills Hotel, resort and near the lake.

As the VRT reports, the Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation Jo Brouns explained that mobility should be treated as a service and that the closed traffic conditions of Terhills were a good testing space for the innovative technology.