Skip to main content

Registration opens for UK’s first public driverless vehicle trials

Members of the public can now register to take part in the UK’s first public driverless vehicle trials, due to take place later this year. The trials, which will take place in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, are part of the GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) project – a US$11.5 million (£8million) research project to investigate the use, perception and acceptance of autonomous vehicles in the UK. Taking place in the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich and led by the UK’s Transport
May 13, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Members of the public can now register to take part in the UK’s first public driverless vehicle trials, due to take place later this year. The trials, which will take place in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, are part of the GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) project – a US$11.5 million (£8million) research project to investigate the use, perception and acceptance of autonomous vehicles in the UK.

Taking place in the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich and led by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL), the trials will see fully electric automated vehicles navigating their way around Greenwich. Members of the public can now register for their chance to be involved in the trials, which seek to understand how a range of different user groups feel about the use of fully automated vehicles. Those chosen to be part of the trials will be given the chance to ride in a driverless vehicle and asked to provide their views about the experience. Some participants may also be invited to share their views in interviews before and after using a vehicle.

In addition to physical vehicle trials, members of the public can also register to take part in workshops to help envision the future of driverless vehicles. The workshops, which will take place from June 2016, seek to better understand people’s attitudes towards the use of automated vehicles and their operation in cities. Participants will be encouraged to discuss and debate the topic as well as participate in creative activities with designers and researchers from GATEway partner, the Royal College of Art.

Those with experience or knowledge of Greenwich are also encouraged to share their views on driverless vehicles via a web-based sentiment mapping tool. The site, developed and managed by GATEway partner Commonplace, provides members of the public with a chance to provide feedback on how driverless vehicles might impact life in and around Greenwich. Contributors are able to revisit the site as many times as they like, adding as many comments as they wish, whenever they choose throughout the duration of the project.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK ‘to trial driverless trucks’
    March 7, 2016
    According to news reports, UK Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce funding for driverless truck trials on the M6 motorway when he delivers his budget this month. A stretch of the M6 near Carlisle has reportedly been earmarked for the trials, which could see platoons of up to ten driverless lorries take to the road as the government pushes ahead with next-generation transportation in a bid to reduce congestion and journey times. The trucks would each have a driver in the cab as a safety me
  • Preparing for connected vehicle technology challenge
    December 14, 2012
    A decision on mandating connected vehicle technology is expected in 2013, when associated political issues such as privacy are likely to come to the fore. Pete Goldin investigates industry’s preparations for the challenge. Once in a while new technology comes along with the power to revolutionise the way we live our lives. Connected vehicle technology could be such a game changer. If mandated in the United States, it could quickly become the status quo for transportation in the US, and such a disruptive cha
  • Motorists want roads repaired before smart motorways, says survey
    December 5, 2014
    According to research by Bury-based online car supermarket JamJar Direct, which indicates that 47 per cent of Greater Manchester motorists claim to have been affected by the construction works, communications around the M60 smart motorway improvements are sorely lacking. Almost two thirds of Greater Manchester motorists (62 per cent) are aware that the M60 is being turned into a smart motorway, but over 40 per cent, equivalent to 81,000 vehicles per day using affected stretch of M60 between junctions 8 a
  • USDOT offers free public workshops at ITS America 2016 San Jose
    May 26, 2016
    The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is partnering with ITS America to host two free public workshops on Thursday June 16 at ITS America 2016 San Jose. These workshops will discuss connected vehicle architecture, standards, and software tools, as well as provide new training on developing a plan for deploying a connected vehicle environment.