Sunderland awarded £14 million to trial self-driving tech

Two projects developing self-driving technology in Sunderland have been awarded £14 million (US$16.8 million) as part of a joint funding initiative between the UK government and industry.

The Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle project will trial three self-driving, zero emission vehicles across the city – transporting passengers on public roads. Project V-CAL will run up to four zero-emission autonomous heavy-goods vehicles (HGVs) on private roads around Sunderland’s Nissan plant.

Both projects are part of a wider national plan to boost autonomous vehicle development across the UK, with £84 million in joint funding being distributed.

“Leveraging the power of 5G technology and Sunderland’s leading smart city infrastructure, the focus of our ambitious project partners is underpinned by an ethos of leaving no one and nowhere behind,” said Liz St Louis, director of Smart Cities at Sunderland City Council.

“Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will provide huge social, industrial and economic benefits across the world and we’re hugely optimistic about a technology-fuelled future, powered by local expertise, right here in Sunderland.”

Advanced mobility shuttle

The Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle (SAMS) project will receive £6 million to develop three self-driving, zero-emission Aurrigo shuttles, which will transport passengers between Sunderland Interchange, the Sunderland Royal Hospital, and the University of Sunderland City Campus.

SAMS is led by Sunderland City Council in partnership with Aurrigo, Stagecoach, ANGOKA Ltd, Newcastle University, Swansea University, and BAI Communications.

While safety drivers will always be onboard, the project will develop and demonstrate a cyber-secure remote supervision protocol, an important step towards commercial deployment.

The service will begin development in March, with the aim of launching a sustainable commercial service in 2024.

Project V-CAL, being led by the North East Automotive Alliance (NEAA), has been awarded £8 million in funding.

The project is a partnership between Vantec, Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK (NMUK), StreetDrone, Nokia, Newcastle University, ANGOKA, and Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP.

The HGVs will operate without any personnel on board but will be monitored by a remote safety driver as backup.

“Self-driving vehicles including buses will positively transform people’s everyday lives – making it easier to get around, access vital services and improve regional connectivity,” said UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

“We’re supporting and investing in the safe rollout of this incredible technology to help maximise its full potential, while also creating skilled jobs and boosting growth in this important sector.”

UK-wide

Other self-driving vehicle projects awarded funding include schemes in Belfast, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Solihull and Coventry.

Each project will be expected to demonstrate the capacity for sustainable commercial services by 2025.

In Edinburgh, Stagecoach and bus builder Alexander Dennis are being given £10.4 million to launch a full-sized, self-driving bus service, which the government believes would be a world first.

In Solihull and Coventry, £15.2 million was awarded to establish a remote driving control hub that will oversee self-driving vehicles, while Cambridge received £17.4 million to trial on-demand, self-driving taxis.

There will also be projects to develop a zero-emission, self-driving HGV with supermarket chain Asda and to carry passengers and goods across Belfast’s Harbour Estate on driverless shuttles.

Image: Sunderland City Council