Photo: SCALE
An autonomous shuttle bus service project has launched in Birmingham carrying passengers from Birmingham International station to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Birmingham Business Park.
The Solihull and Coventry Automated Links Evolution (SCALE) project will see a fleet of three self-driving shuttles ferry passengers along a new 7km route linking passengers from Birmingham International rail station to the NEC and Birmingham Business Park. View the full route here.
The accessible fully-electric shuttles being used for this latest trial have been built by New Zealand based autonomous vehicle manufacturer Ohmio and can carry up to 14 passengers.
They use cameras and sensors to understand their surroundings, allowing them to interact with live traffic and move around safely. In line with current legislation, the shuttles will have a human operator permanently onboard, who will have the ability to take control if required.
Each journey will also be tracked in real time from Transport for West Midlands’ (TfWM) control centre on Summer Lane.
The pioneering 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, and automated vehicle simulation specialists IPG and dRISK.
On site testing is began earlier this year and passenger trials along the first section of the route are now taking place. The pilot project is currently scheduled to run until the end of June 2025.
The first phase of the route, linking bp pulse LIVE Arena to the VIP & blue badge parking area is now in operation.
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