‘Self-driving’ bus service to launch in spring as government announces £81m for autonomous public transport

The world’s first full-sized “self-driving” bus service is set to launch in Scotland in spring 2023 after a pilot project was awarded £5.2 million government funding.

The cash for the CAVForth II project is part of an £81 million investment in autonomous public transport announced by the the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

The funding for the service, run by Stagecoach and bus maker Alexander Dennis, is being matched by industry investment to take the total new input to £10.4m. The extra cash aims to develop an existing pilot programme, which began in January, into a fully operational passenger service in coming months. It will see autonomous single-decker buses running on a route between Edinburgh and Fife along an 18-mile predetermined route.

The new route extends the trial scheme by four miles, beyond an out-of-town park and ride site into the centre of Dunfermline, which operators say will take in more complex autonomous driving scenarios on busy category A and B roads and mixing with city centre traffic.

The scheme’s backers say it is believed to be the most complex autonomous bus project in the world. However, although the bus is programmed to use sensors and a pre-planned route to complete the journey, a human driver remains on board to take over if necessary.

The CCAV says that the successful roll-out of this “captained” service could help pave the way for smaller buses to operate entirely without staff on board in future.

Carla Stockton-Jones, UK managing director of Stagecoach, said: “We’re very proud to be pioneers of this technology with our plans to roll out the UK’s first full-sized autonomous bus service in Scotland in the spring.

“The government funding means that we can build further on this achievement by trialling exciting new autonomous projects with our partners in Cambridge and Sunderland, and at the same time advancing the technology as we extend our Scottish bus trial to cover a longer route.”

Alongside the CAVForth II, the BEIS announced funding for six other projects focused on developing autonomous vehicles for use in public transport and logistics applications. £42m in government funding is being matched by industry groups.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Self-driving vehicles including buses will positively transform people’s everyday lives – making it easier to get around, access vital services and improve regional connectivity.”

Among the other major projects granted funding are two for north-east England. The V-CAL–North East Automotive Alliance has received £8m to develop and test self-driving and remotely piloted HGVs which will operate between the Vantec EV battery plant and Nissan sites in Sunderland. At the same time, City of Sunderland Council has been given £6m to build and trial a self-driving shuttle service to the University of Sunderland and the Sunderland Royal Hospital.

In Northern Ireland, £11m has been given to Belfast Harbour to deploy a self-driving shuttle service around Belfast Harbour, and in Cambridge £17.4m granted to trial on-demand, self-driving taxis to integrate with existing transport services across Cambridge University’s West Cambridge Campus and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

More than £13m has also been given to Hub2Hub, which is a project between HVS, Asda and Fusion Processing Ltd to develop a new hydrogen-fuelled, zero emissions, self-driving HGV.

Business Secretary Grant Shapps commented: “In just a few years’ time, the business of self-driving vehicles could add tens of billions to our economy and create tens of thousands of jobs across the UK. This is a massive opportunity to drive forward our priority to grow the economy, which we are determined to seize.