A new autonomous shuttle service is operating in the West Midlands – and the news has been met with curiosity and some questions from local residents.
The cube-like buses of the SCALE project will run a 7km route to major venues like the NEC, the bp pulse LIVE Arena and Birmingham International Rail station, which links to Birmingham Airport.
Solihull Council said the shuttle route would be fully operational in the summer but for now it is being rolled out in phases – meaning travellers can only catch a ride for a portion of the route, says Birmingham Live.
The shuttle trial is called The Solihull and Coventry Automated Links Evolution (SCALE) project and it being delivered by a consortium led by Solihull Council, including WMG at the University of Warwick and Coventry University, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the NEC, Coventry City Council and automated vehicle simulation specialists IPG and dRISK.
The blue, green and red shuttles are fully-accessible and the creation of New Zealand-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer Ohmio, represented in the UK by Ohmio UK.
Each vehicle can carry up to 14 passengers and has cameras and sensors to understand their surroundings. The shuttle is also fully accessible to wheelchair users.
The shuttles are fully electric and have a range of 125 miles.
Solihull Council said that while the shuttles are autonomous, there is a human on board to oversee the safety of the shuttles.
The council explained: “Although the safety operator has the ability to take control of the shuttle in an emergency, they will not be operating the shuttle on the majority of the route.
“The route has been pre-mapped so the vehicles are aware of their environment – this means they have the ability to stop themselves in an emergency or if there is an unexpected hazard in the road.
“The goal for this technology is to remove the need for a safety operator within the vehicle in the future, instead allowing them to be remotely monitored from a control room.”
As it stands, the SCALE trial is temporary. However council bosses have not ruled out them returning to Solihull once the trial finishes.
A Solihull Council spokesperson explained: “The success of these trials will provide knowledge and experience of self-driving vehicles in a real-world environment, meaning that they could be rolled-out elsewhere in Solihull or as part of a permanent route in the future.”
(Pic: Solihull Council)
