The government have announced plans to accelerate the development of self-driving vehicles, bringing forward pilots of self-driving taxi- and bus services by a year.
Pilot schemes will start from Spring next year, ahead of the full Automated Vehicles (AV) Act becoming law from the second half of 2027 at which point a wide rollout is expected.
For the first time, operators will be allowed to trial small scale ‘taxi- and bus-like’ services, through which members of the public will be able to use an app to book trips in self-driving vehicles without a safety driver on board,
Self-driving trials have been taking place in the UK since January 2015, with British companies Wayve and Oxa at the forefront.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: ‘We can’t afford to take a back seat on AI, unless it’s on a self-driving bus. It’s great to see the UK storming ahead as a global leader in using this technology – making our roads safer, travel easier and driving growth by spurring innovation across the country.
‘That’s why we’re bringing timelines forward today, placing the UK firmly in the fast lane and creating opportunity along the way so people across the country benefit.’
On the back of the above news, a new partnership between the Wayve and Uber to develop and launch public-road trials of fully autonomous vehicles in the UK has been announced.
The two companies announced a long-term collaboration last year, which would see Wayve’s Embodied AI integrated into vehicles operating on the Uber platform. Today’s announcement will see live operational trials on UK roads.
Alex Kendall, CEO and Co-founder of Wayve said: : ‘This is a defining moment for UK autonomy. With Uber and a global OEM partner, we’re preparing to put our AI Driver technology into real service on the streets of London, delivering on our AV2.0 vision for scalable autonomy.
‘Our Embodied AI learns to drive anywhere, in any vehicle, and this trial brings us closer to bringing safe and intelligent driving to everyday rides across the UK and beyond.’
Andrew Macdonald, President and Chief Operating Officer of Uber added: ‘We’re excited to take the next step in our journey with Wayve, bringing autonomous mobility to one of the world’s busiest and most complex urban environments.
‘Wayve’s globally scalable AV2.0 approach makes them an ideal partner to bring Uber’s autonomous vision to reality in new cities around the world. Our vision is to make autonomy a safe and reliable option for riders everywhere, and this trial in London brings that future closer to reality.’
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