£1.5m for driverless pod project
News
22 Nov 2013
The first driverless cars will be put to the test in Milton Keynes thanks to £1.5m government money, announced by Business Secretary Vince Cable.
The electric-powered pods can be booked via a smartphone app and will be able to carry two people on designated pathways in Milton Keynes city centre. It is planned that in 2015, an initial batch of 20 pods will be driver-operated and will run on lanes separated from pedestrians. By mid 2017, it is planned that 100 pods that are fully autonomous will be running on pathways alongside people and will use sensors to avoid obstacles.
It forms part of a £75m government scheme to enable businesses to make and test low carbon technologies, which it says will keep the UK at the forefront of engine design and help to safeguard up to 30,000 jobs in engine production.
The pilot project is part of the LUTZ (low carbon urban transport zone) project which is a research collaboration between Arup, Transport Systems Catapult, Cambridge University and the Automotive Council. The LUTZ project is being developed to explore the potential for intelligent mobility concepts within the urban environment. The collaborators are working with Milton Keynes Council to set up a trial project.
“Driverless cars is an invention that has the potential to generate the kind of high-skilled jobs we want Britain to be famous for, as well as cutting congestion and pollution and improving road safety,” said Business Secretary Vince Cable.
