Inverness Campus, Navya Announce Partnership for New Autonomous Project
Navya, a pioneer in autonomous mobility systems, has announced a new collaboration with Inverness Campus to launch a new initiative using a Navya Autonom shuttle.
The Inverness Campus is hosting Scotland's first Autonomous Vehicle (AV) passenger service pilot. The AV vehicle has arrived in the Highlands, and the long-awaited trials have begun and will go on until March of next year.
The programme is being promoted by HITRANS, the Highlands and Islands Regional Transport Partnership, which is committed to increasing multi-modal travel and moving away from the use of private cars.
HITRANS has received European financing for the Planning for Autonomous Vehicles (PAV) project, which is supported by the Interreg North Sea Region Programme and is collaborating with several partners to complete the project. Stagecoach, which will operate the service, NAVYA, which designed, built, and deployed the AV, The Highland Council, and Inverness Campus.
The AV passenger service connects Inverness Campus to the Inverness Retail and Business Park along a 3-kilometre route that includes a train crossing made possible by the recently installed sustainable travel bridge. The corridor is only for public transportation, walking, and cycling, with individuals walking and cycling separated from road vehicles across most of the route.
On the route, one vehicle with up to 15 seats is operating (11 seated and 4 standing). The shuttle service is expected to be used throughout the day by students and employees at the Inverness Campus to visit the nearby shopping and business park.
Partners want to see the service used as much as possible throughout the trial and will engage with schools to encourage school trips on the service. Contact [email protected] if interested. The autonomous vehicle is operating as a shuttle from 10 am to 4 pm with no fares till October 1.
The trial complements one in Hannover, Germany, where an autonomous bus shuttle is being tested between a tram stop and a new university campus.
The pilot's technological and social implications will be monitored. The pilots examine the practicality of an AV route, as well as the technology needed to combine AVs with other means of transport and to better understand user impressions. Work streams have been formed to focus on the long-term socio-economic impacts of AVs, with research validated using pilot project results.
Source: Navya
