Croatia has become the first country in Europe to launch a commercial robotaxi service, with operations starting in the capital Zagreb.
Autonomous mobility operator Verne, a Croatian company spun out of electric hypercar maker Rimac, announced that members of the public can now book and pay for driverless rides through its app.
The service uses technology from Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai and will soon also be available via the Uber platform following a previously announced partnership with the ride-hailing giant. Under the wider partnership, Verne acts as fleet owner and operator while Uber provides access through its platform and Pony.ai supplies the autonomous technology.
Verne’s current service zone covers key districts of Zagreb, with plans to expand coverage across the city.
“For the first time in Europe there is a real commercial robotaxi service. People can use it and take real autonomous rides,” said Marko Pejković, Co-Founder and CEO executive of Verne. “We said we would launch in Zagreb in 2026. Today, we did. This is just the start.”
The initial rollout uses electric vehicles equipped with Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous driving system. While the vehicles operate autonomously, trained safety operators remain onboard during the early phase of deployment. The companies aim to transition to fully driverless operations, subject to regulatory approval and performance against safety and reliability standards.
The launch follows several years of development and collaboration with regulators and positions Zagreb ahead of other European cities pursuing similar deployments.
Croatia’s emergence as the first European market for commercial robotaxis may seem unexpected. Larger markets have been working toward similar deployments for longer with Waymo targeting London as the UK capital pushes robotaxi trials forward and Germany home to multiple competing programmes.
By Athena Browning ZAGDAILY
