Driverless Bus Service In Scotland To Be Withdrawn Due To Lack of Interest (theguardian.com) 8
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The UK's first driverless bus service, originally heralded as a breakthrough of global significance, is being withdrawn from service because too few passengers used it. The autonomous buses, operated by Stagecoach, have been running between Fife and Edinburgh along a 14-mile route over the Forth road bridge since May 2023 to relieve the heavy congestion which can bring traffic to a standstill.
The CAVForth service, a collaboration between Fusion Processing, the coach-building company Alexander Dennis, Napier University in Edinburgh and the Bristol Robotics Lab -- a joint venture between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England -- was touted as the most ambitious and complex in the world. Built at an estimated cost of more than 6 million pounds, partly funded by the UK government, the fleet of five single-decker buses had the capacity to carry 10,000 passengers a week but needed two crew on board for safety reasons. Stagecoach said in a statement: "We are proud to have achieved a world first with our CAVForth autonomous bus service, demonstrating the potential for self-driving technology on a real-world registered timetable in East Scotland. Although passenger adoption did not meet expectations, the trial has significantly advanced the understanding of the operational and regulatory requirements for autonomous services, delivering what was expected from this demonstrator project. The partners remain committed to exploring new opportunities for self-driving technology in other areas across the UK, ensuring that this exciting innovation can play a transformative role in future transport networks."
The CAVForth service, a collaboration between Fusion Processing, the coach-building company Alexander Dennis, Napier University in Edinburgh and the Bristol Robotics Lab -- a joint venture between the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England -- was touted as the most ambitious and complex in the world. Built at an estimated cost of more than 6 million pounds, partly funded by the UK government, the fleet of five single-decker buses had the capacity to carry 10,000 passengers a week but needed two crew on board for safety reasons. Stagecoach said in a statement: "We are proud to have achieved a world first with our CAVForth autonomous bus service, demonstrating the potential for self-driving technology on a real-world registered timetable in East Scotland. Although passenger adoption did not meet expectations, the trial has significantly advanced the understanding of the operational and regulatory requirements for autonomous services, delivering what was expected from this demonstrator project. The partners remain committed to exploring new opportunities for self-driving technology in other areas across the UK, ensuring that this exciting innovation can play a transformative role in future transport networks."
one driver vs two safety personnel. (Score:2, Informative)
traditional bus: one employee, the driver
autonomous: two employees: safety personnel.
progress!
What problem exactly (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
did the passengers have with the drivers on these busses?
That they weren't there, perchance?
Re: (Score:3)
If they ran busses along a crowded motorway to ease congestion but nobody wanted to ride the bus, I'd say the problem is, people prefer to be in their own vehicle.
Especially if they didn't reserve a lane for the bus, and since there were only 5 of them I suppose they didn't. Perfect, now there's absolutely zero reason to ride that bus as you are still in the congestion moving along at exactly the same speed as the cars, except making more
Traffic “problems” (Score:2)
..along a 14-mile route over the Forth road bridge since May 2023 to relieve the heavy congestion which can bring traffic to a standstill.
Traffic problems, eh? I wonder how much of that congestion is being caused by RTO mandates after years of doing a job remotely?
Maybe some new competition mature enough to recognize the value-add of WFH will come along and gobble up your best talent. Seems to be all it takes these days.
Typical automobile first / shiny distraction strat (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
To make public transport interesting (for non students, old people, tourists and people too poor to afford a car) you have to let traffic degrade to the level of inner parts of major cities, or you need to make it too expensive for poor people who can still afford a car. If you let the traffic degrade, that will also degrade deliveries, emergency services and even buses because you can't really use bus lanes everywhere. So not an option, that leaves pricing out the working class ... aka the majority. That m
Country where the Legend of the (Score:1)
...Headless Bus-Driver came from, possibly a variant of the Sleepy Hollow story. It's like selling hamburger grinders in India.