New futuristic self-driving shuttles coming to West Midlands
Cube-like driverless shuttles are in the final stages of testing ahead of a roll out across major West Midlands venues. The autonomous shuttles will operate a seven kilometre-route and stop at key regional locations, including Birmingham International railway station, the National Exhibition Centre and Resorts World.
Visitors to the NEC and wider Solihull sites will soon be able to get around by hopping onboard the self-driving shuttle service, which is currently undergoing on-site testing. While the full route map has been announced, Solihull Council said it will actually go live in phases. Read more on the full route and see the shuttle map, here.
After a "series of successful" trials, it is hoped the fleet of autonomous buses will help transport bosses better understand how self-driving vehicles might feature in public transport systems. Pictures of the shuttles shared with BirmighamLive show what passengers can expect from the colourful and quirky vehicles.
READ MORE: Solihull self-driving shuttle bus route map as NEC and Birmingham International stops included
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Look through our photo story below to around and inside the shuttles, and the stops that will feature:
READ MORE: In pictures: Self-driving shuttle buses ferrying passengers around top West Midlands venues
When does the full shuttle service launch?
After much build-up in anticipation of the launch, passengers won't have to wait too much longer to try the new service. Transport bosses said on-site testing is underway to get the service up and running.
Passenger services along the first section of the route expected to go live before the of the year. The pilot project is currently scheduled to run until the end of March 2025, after which it will likely depend on funding.
Who designed the shuttles?
The accessible fully-electric shuttles have been built by New Zealand based autonomous vehicle manufacturer Ohmio. Ohmio global boss Dean Zabrieszach said the driverless shuttles have "the capacity to fill a void in current transportation systems."
The project is being delivered by a consortium led by Solihull Council, including both the University of Warwick and Coventry University, TfWM, the NEC, Coventry City Council, Direct Line Group and automated vehicle simulation specialists IPG and dRISK.
Funding for the multi-million-pound project has been provided by the Department for Transport’s Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). As it stands, the project will run until the end of March 2025.
Mark Cracknell, programme director at Zenzic, a body established by government and industry to champion UK Connected and Automated Mobility, said: “This is a significant development for SCALE, one of the six successful projects from the CCAV Deployment competition, which form the most advanced set of commercial, self-driving passenger and freight operations anywhere in the world.
"With these investments, the UK is further strengthened and positioned to become one of the world’s leading destinations for the adoption of CAM technology and the delivery of improved transport services.”
How do the shuttles work?
The autonomous electric shuttles will connect Birmingham International station, the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham Business Park. However the full route features a number of other stops including Resorts World, the Premier Inn, and the various atriums of the NEC.
The vehicles are green, blue and red and can carry up to 20 passengers. They truly look futuristic, like something dreamed up as a mode of transport in a Disney Pixar movie.
However the fleet is intended as a real way of getting around, and their viability for future use is being tested by running them in the "busy but controlled" environment of the NEC campus. Solihull Council said in line with current legislation, a human operator would be permanently on-board to take control if necessary.
Each shuttle uses a suite of cameras and sensors to understand their surroundings as well as sensors that interact with live traffic.
What has Solihull Council said?
Coun Andy Mackiewicz, cabinet member for climate change and planning, said: “Connected Automated Mobility (CAM) technology has the potential to revolutionise the way we get around. We are excited to be leading the way, not just in Solihull, but regionally and across the country, in providing learning on CAM deployments in different settings and scenarios.
“We’ve already carried out a series of successful pathfinder trials here in Solihull, and shown how it is possible to practically and safely start incorporating self-driving vehicles into key parts of our transport infrastructure. SCALE represents the next step in this learning and will help develop our understanding around how future commercial passenger services might operate.
"We’ve brought together a fantastic consortium of experts for this pilot and are already benefitting from the ability to share our relevant expertise and experience in the rapidly evolving CAM sector.
“Taking place across one of the best-connected destinations in the UK and Europe, this new Solihull-based route will join up three key assets within the UK Central Hub area, operating in a busy but controlled environment and gaining further real-world operating experience."
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