Self-driving bus service to start in Scotland next year
Europe’s first full-size selfdriving bus has carried its first passengers in Scotland – a year before going into service over the Forth Road Bridge.
Trials over the bridge without passengers are planned by the end of this year, with services due to start between the Ferrytoll park-and-ride site in Fife and Edinburgh Park station towards the end of 2020.
But a driver will remain on board the 42-passenger buses for safety.
Europe’s first full-size selfdriving bus has carried its first passengers in Scotland – a year before going into service over the Forth Road Bridge.
The Stagecoach single-decker’s debut north of the Border came as trials were announced for the first autonomous vehicle to deliver Amazon-type packages on roads.
The bus was driven round a cordoned-off section of the SEC car park in Glasgow as part of the CAV (Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) Scotland trade show.
Trials over the bridge without passengers are planned by the end of this year, with services due to start between the Ferrytoll park-and-ride site in Fife and Edinburgh Park station towards the end of 2020.
But a driver will remain on board the 42-passenger buses for safety.
They will be diesel powered rather than electric so the pilot can focus on automation.
Stagecoach Scotland East project manager Louise Simpson said: “We hope [passengers] will be excited. We understand that some may be sceptical and slightly fearful of the new technology.
“But I don’t think in the near future there will be buses running without a driver on board on public roads.
“Safety is the key advantage – autonomous technology can act as quite a significant support for the driver and help remove a lot of human error that is a factor in collisions.”
Project Cavforth also includes Scottish bus maker Alexander Dennis, Transport Scotland and tech firm Fusion Processing, along with Edinburgh Napier University and Bristol Robotics Laboratory.
Extensive trials have already taken place at a Stagecoach bus depot in Manchester.
Transport secretary Michael Matheson said: “The groundbreaking and globally-significant Project Cavforth will help Scotland establish its credentials on the world stage.”
Jim Hutchinson, chief executive of Fusion Processing, said: “This is the most advanced autonomous bus project anywhere.
“As well as providing autonomous systems, we will provide spin-off projects from the technology that can help manual-driven buses, such as tech that can recognise pedestrians and cyclists and warn the driver, automated emergency braking, and replacement of external mirrors with advanced vision systems.”
Meantime, an experimental self-driving delivery vehicle is to begin trials on UK roads for the first time next year after other firms held pilots with pavement-based vans.
The Kar-go features an internal conveyor belt to release the correct package from the vehicle after being unlocked by the customer using a mobile phone app.
It is claimed the technology could cut “last mile” delivery costs by up to 90 per cent.
The prototype Kar-go has space for 24 shoebox-size parcels, but it could be scaled up.
The vehicle, developed by artificial intelligence firm Academy of Robotics, will also be used to improve road maintenance by building up a detailed picture of the conditions of streets it operates on.
Academy of Robotics chief executive William Sachiti said: “Most autonomous vehicle training has taken place on well-marked roads, but these areas rarely reflect real-world conditions.
“We believe training our vehicles to operate on the widest range of real-world conditions is critical.”