First trials in Scotland of driverless buses begin after Autonomous Vehicle (AV) arrives at Inverness Campus for scheme promoted by Hitrans
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The first trials of driverless buses in Scotland have begun in Inverness.
Inverness Campus has been chosen to host the first Autonomous Vehicle (AV) passenger service pilot in Scotland with trials continuing until next March.
The scheme is promoted by Hitrans, the regional transport partnership for the Highlands and Islands, which is committed to encouraging multi-modal travel and moving away from private car use.
The AV passenger service provides a 3km route linking the campus at Beechwood with the Inverness Retail and Business Park including a railway crossing with a recently-introduced sustainable travel bridge.
One vehicle is operating on the route offering up to 15 seats –11 seated and four standing.
The shuttle service is expected to be used by students and people working on the campus site to access the shopping and business park.
It will initially operate from 10am until 4pm and no fares will be charged for a special introductory period until October 1.
Partners are keen to see the services used as much as possible throughout the trial and hope to arrange school visits to allow young people to travel on the service.
Inverness students to get driverless buses
Councillor Ken Gowans, chairman of Highland Council’s economy and infrastructure committee, is among those who have had a preview of the bus.
"The Inverness Campus is an ideal location to trial such a technologically advanced form of transport," he said.
"I found the ride felt very safe and enjoyable and the other passengers were impressed too.
"The bus travels at around twice the speed of walking and will be ideal for localised journeys such as shuttle services, and much more as the technology develops."
Hitrans has attracted European funding - through the Planning for Autonomous Vehicles (PAV) project, funded by the Interreg North Sea Region Programme - and is working with a number of partners to deliver the project.
These include Stagecoach, which will operate the service, NAVYA, which manufactured the AV, Highland Council and Inverness Campus.
The trial is seen as complementary to a project in Hannover, Germany, where trialling an autonomous bus shuttle between a tram stop and a new university campus is being undertaken.
Monitoring will be conducted throughout the pilot on various technological aspects as well as social impacts.
The intention is not only to test the viability of a route operated by an AV, but also to test the technology required to use AVs in combination with other transport modes and better understand user perceptions.
Scottish Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth, wished the pilot every success.
"This type of innovation shows Scotland is very much open for business when it comes to trialling this technology," she said.
Jayne Golding, projects and policy manager at Hitrans, said safety was paramount.
"While the vehicle might be capable of driving itself without being controlled by an individual, an operator will be always present in the vehicle," she said.
"The driving task will be delegated to the vehicle, but the operator will be ready to take control whenever they are required to do so."
David Beaton, managing director for Stagecoach Highlands, said AV technology
could provide major benefits, with evidence suggesting it could further enhance safety, deliver fuel and efficiency savings from more optimised braking and acceleration, as well as a better overall customer experience.
"Through the pilot at Inverness Campus, and the major trial we are leading in East Scotland which will see the country's full-sized autonomous buses operating over the Forth Road Bridge, we are learning a lot about this new technology and how it could be used to benefit the communities we serve," he said.
Sophie Desormière, chief executive of Navya, said the company was proud to be involved in the pilot project.
"Providing shared and zero-emission autonomous transport solutions to promote multimodal ways of travel, reducing the need for personal vehicles, represents a major push to cities’ economic and tourist activities while contributing to their energy and ecological transition," she said.
