Our fascination with autonomous vehicles spans over ten years. Much of that time was focused on self-driving cars in our cities and highways. While that scenario has been slow to materialize, autonomous vehicles are emerging all around us in various applications. We see autonomy rolling out in agriculture, mining, and increasingly, logistics. The autonomous trucking trials happening in the southern region of the U.S. are a harbinger of things to come. The movement of freight however is not limited to our current roads. This recent article describes the future of freight transport – which may be heading underground.

After five years of study, Switzerland is ready to move forward with an underground freight network called Cargo Sous Terrain.

Cargo sous terrain follows a similar principle to that of an automatic conveyor system. Automated, driverless transport vehicles which are able to pick up and deposit loads automatically from the designated ramps and lifts travel around the clock in the tunnels.

Evan Ackerman – Switzerland Moves Ahead With Underground Autonomous Cargo Delivery

This short video describes the early signs of a logistics transition. The article referenced above provides some detail.