Self-driving vehicles are set to take the roads, as local authorities and regional transport operators study this new technology and how it can improve transport.

Rural and urban areas will be included as £1.3 million in industry and Government funding has been put in place to observe how feasible self-driving mass transit solutions will be across the UK.

Northumberland, Solihull, Inverness and the Isle of Skye are some of the rural areas that will benefit from the £1.3 million in funding for six projects. 

The Centre for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CCAV) grants are expected to aid areas in showing evidence on using this type of transport technology. Studies will further help on whether automated vehicles could operate exclusively from other traffic, relieving congestion.

The joint government and industry funding winners are:

• Autonomous Healthlink (Northumberland)
• Blythe Rural Automated Vehicle Operations (West Midlands)
• Commercialising Connected and Automated Vehicle Services in the Scottish Highlands and Islands (Inverness and Isle of Skye)
• Dromos Connected and Automated System (Bolton)
• HertsLynx Connected and Automated Mobility On-Demand (Hertfordshire)
• Integrated Mixed Traffic Mobility for Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit (Hertfordshire)

To find out more about these projects visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/preparing-the-way-for-self-driving-mass-transit-services-in-remote-rural-and-urban-areas

Image Credit: GOV.UK