Driverless buses will take passengers across Scottish bridge in new trial

The Forth Road Bridge will see driverless buses operate between Fife and Edinburgh on a 14 mile trial route starting in 2019.

Each bus will carry up to 42 passengers and provide as many as 10,000 journeys per week with the service running every 20 minutes when it fully launches.

Stagecoach, the company in charge of the route hopes to have a full service up-and-running by 2021.

In total there will be five single-decker buses that will be converted from existing vehicles to include the technology needed for them to drive themselves. The initial test will, however, launch with just one vehicle.

The vehicles themselves are a joint venture between Stagecoach, Alexander Dennis and Fusion Processing. The buses are currently being fitted with the required equipment at the Alexander Dennis facility in Guildford, Surrey.

UK rules mean that while the bus will be automated there will still be a driver on board. However the buses will be able to operate autonomously in the depot without a driver on board.

This is because the buses are technically known as "Level 4 autonomous". This means that in certain circumstances the driver does not need to be in control of the vehicle.

Level 5 automation requires no driver at all, and likewise doesn’t need a steering wheel or pedals to operate.

The £4.5 million in funding for the autonomous buses has come from the government’s Innovate UK fund.

There’s an additional £25 million in funding also available for other projects. Some of those include a Jaguar Land Rover project that will offer high-end taxis in London and an Addison Lee project that will target the Greenwich, in the capital.

UK Government Business Secretary Greg Clark said “The UK is building on its automotive heritage and strengths to develop the new vehicles and technologies and from 2021 the public will get to experience the future for themselves”.

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