Visitors to Highways UK – a sister event to MOVE, taking place in Birmingham next week, will be among the first to have the opportunity to ride a trial autonomous bus shuttle service running at the NEC, England’s National Exhibition Centre.
Local municipality Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is working with the NEC on the pilot autonomous shuttle service to gain a better understanding of the technology, its application and how the technology might be used in the future.
Visitors to Highways UK can pre-book their free ride to experience one of the first fully self-driving shuttles in the UK. Additionally, there will be a “hop on” service running for the duration of the event and Solihull’s Head of CCAV will be on hand at the NEC on 4 November. The route starts at the Piazza bus stop by Hall 5 and runs down Pendigo Way to Resorts World. If you are visiting Highways UK, your walking route from the train station (and airport) take you very close to the departure point. The round trip takes less than 20 minutes, so a small detour for an amazing conversation point.
Safety supervisors will be on board the vehicle during the project trials and are able to regain manual control of the vehicle immediately at any time if required. The fully electric vehicles will run at a maximum of 20mph.
The trials will support research into potential driverless shuttle services and further explore how smart technology could be used to cut congestion and improve public transport.
For more information on the autonomous trials and the vehicles themselves, please visit www.solihull.gov.uk/CAVtrials
