First trial of driverless vehicles, regulatory review launched

The first trial of driverless cars is launched today in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London.

The Greenwich Automated Transport Environment project (GATEway) is one of three projects chosen by the Government to deliver demonstrations of automated vehicles in urban environments.

The trial officially gets underway at Greenwich Peninsula today, attended by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Transport Minister Claire Perry, who also officially launched a regulatory review and the UK Government’s ‘Introducing Driverless Cars’ competition.

The GATEway project includes the testing of a fully driverless vehicle called the Meridian Shuttle, which takes its inaugural journey today and will be evaluated in various scenarios over the next two years. It will test a number of important factors involved with using automated vehicles, including; Demonstrating automated transport systems in a range of environments; Exploring the legal and technical changes required to introduce automated vehicles; and investigating the reactions of pedestrians, drivers and other road users to automated vehicles.

The project comprises a consortium of eleven members, led by the Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL), the along with key partners including the Royal Borough of Greenwich, which is the location for the trials. Other key consortium members include RSA, the global insurer, which will be looking at how automated vehicles might impact the motor insurance market, Shell and Telefonica who will be learning how the technology might impact their sectors and the University of Greenwich which will be researching how people might interact with driverless vehicles.

Project lead Dr Nick Reed said: “The innovative GATEway project will help place the UK at the forefront of the rapidly emerging sector of research and development related to automated vehicles. Through the strengths of the consortium and the project location within Greenwich – at the heart of the UK’s only globally recognised megacity, we can start addressing the technical, societal and legal barriers to automated vehicles and create a world class, technology-agnostic testing environment to help deliver the future of urban mobility.”

Members of UK Autodrive, one of the three successful projects in the competition, Tim Armitage (Arup), Cllr Pete Marland (Milton Keynes Council Leader) and Mike Waters (Coventry City Council), also attended the project launch.

The consortium, which is led by 7942 Arup and includes local authorities, the UK’s leading technology and automotive businesses and academic institutions, will develop autonomous vehicle technologies and integrate driverless vehicles into existing urban environment.

Transport Minister Claire Perry said: “Driverless cars are the future. I want the UK to be open-minded and embrace a technology that could transform our roads and open up a brand new route for global investment.”

“This Government review of regulations paves the way for the introduction of driverless vehicles on UK roads. UK Autodrive will make use of these changes to lead the development and adoption of autonomous driving technologies,” said Armitage. “The three year programme will demonstrate those autonomous technologies in the cities of Milton Keynes and Coventry, positioning the UK as a leader in this domain.”

The government review is likely to include a revision of the Highway Code to include a section on automated vehicle technologies. It will also provide greater certainty around criminal and civil liability in the event of an automated vehicle being in a collision.

The government will also consider whether a higher standard of driving should be demanded of vehicles operating in an automated mode than would be expected of a conventional driver. It will also examine how the existing regulatory framework may be developed to ensure automated vehicle technologies are protected from possible cyber threats.