It’s all-aboard for residents, who will travel free during city centre testing.
Milton Keynes is taking a step closer to a futuristic high-tech world this week as it starts route plotting for a fleet of driverless buses.
Advanced ‘mapping’ has begun in the city centre as technology specialists plan routes in a new trial of autonomous shuttles.
The Street Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (StreetCAV) project is being led by Milton Keynes City Council and MK-based Smart City Consultancy, along with other partners.
In the trial, fully accessible autonomous vehicles will carry up to eight passengers around the city centre stopping at several pick up and drop off points.
Mapping is now underway with vehicles initially being driven between Unity Place and Midsummer Place to gather essential data for the shuttle routes. Once the mapping is completed, passengers will be able to try the shuttles for free on city centre roads as early as February.
The vehicles are supplied by New Zealand manufacturer Ohmio, which has set up its UK HQ in Milton Keynes, and have been specially designed to operate in city centre environments at low speeds of less than 15mph.
“This is an exciting step for Ohmio and Milton Keynes,” said Ian Pulford, Ohmio UK Director. “The mapping task will establish the routes the shuttles will take and ensure they operate safely within a designated route – it will be like creating virtual tracks.”
The shuttles will be connected to a new city centre control room where they will be supervised and managed remotely. For the initial operation, the vehicles will have a trained safety operator on board ready to take control if needed.
The project has created around 15 high tech jobs in Milton Keynes and recruited several local graduates from nearby Cranfield University.
“We’re committed to exploring innovative transport solutions that benefit residents and visitors, while also creating food for thought for sustainable cities around the world,” said Cllr Shanika Mahendran, Cabinet Member for Economy, Sustainability, and Innovation.
“It’s really encouraging that we’ve managed to bring industry-leading partners together on this exciting project. I look forward to hearing about people’s experiences when they try the vehicles out.”
