FiveAI starts AV commuter trials in London

A consortium led by FiveAI called StreetWise is carrying out commuter research trials for autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads in London. FiveAI says the trials will aim to gather insights into AV services, which it says could offer a greener alternative to urban commuter cars. The software company is working with insurance group Direct Line and safety organisation Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to carry out the trials in the boroughs of Croydon and Bromley. As part of the project, FiveAI has
October 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

A consortium led by FiveAI called StreetWise is carrying out commuter research trials for autonomous vehicles (AVs) on public roads in London.

FiveAI says the trials will aim to gather insights into AV services, which it says could offer a greener alternative to urban commuter cars.

The software company is working with insurance group 4236 Direct Line and safety organisation Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) to carry out the trials in the boroughs of Croydon and Bromley.

As part of the project, FiveAI has provided the reference software stack that powers all aspects of the self-driving system. The stack was developed and trained using a dataset from UK roads and cities, including London.

Additionally, TRL is assessing researching participants’ willingness to use and pay for a shared AV service as well as measuring their attitudes towards safety and trust. It is also establishing a safety case for the StreetWise project and generating an independent database of scenarios for simulation testing.

Meanwhile, Direct Line is providing research participants for the trials. The firm’s head of motor product, Neil Ingram, says: “As technological advances continue at pace and self-driving cars become a reality, insurers need to understand how that changes risk; cars will increasingly be controlled by software rather than humans.”

He explains that the partnership will provide Direct Line with insight that will help to develop “insurance solutions for new tech enabled mobility services.”

StreetWise is a consortium initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Industrial Strategy Fund and part of a programme managed by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

Networking & Communication Systems

Related Content

  • April 30, 2013
    London may trial Dutch-style roundabouts
    Roundabouts similar to those used in the Netherlands, which separate cyclists from cars and give them priority, could be used in London as early as next year, subject to government approval, according to Transport for London (TfL). TfL has begun a major cycle safety research project to trial new and innovative junction layouts and traffic technology that, if successful, could be introduced in London and potentially more widely across the UK. The trials, which are being carried out for TfL by the Transport R
    Read More
  • July 26, 2016
    Forward Thinking award for TRL
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has been named the winner of the Forward Thinking Award at the 2016 ITS (UK) Awards. The award, which recognises innovation in intelligent transport systems (ITS), was presented to TRL for its creation of the UK Smart Mobility Living Lab @ Greenwich - a real-life environment where connected and automated vehicles (CAVs), services and processes can be safely developed, evaluated and integrated within the local community. Based in the Royal Borough of Greenwich,
    Read More
  • March 1, 2016
    Google AV in collision with public transit bus
    According to a report made by Google to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), one of its autonomous vehicles (AV) has been in collision with a municipal bus in California. The crash happened on Valentine’s Day, when the Lexus RX-450H was travelling in autonomous mode in the right-hand lane approaching an intersection. It moved to the far right lane to make a right turn, but stopped when it detected sand bags sitting around a storm drain and blocking its path.
    Read More
  • March 9, 2018
    Public invited to take part in Greenwich driverless pod trial
    Members of the public are invited to trial a fleet of driverless pods operating on a 3.4km route around Greenwich Peninsula as part of the £100m ($139m) Gateway project’s final phase. The pilot aims to understand the public acceptance of, and attitudes towards, driverless vehicles. The four pods will use advanced sensors and autonomy software to detect and avoid obstacles while carrying passengers. The vehicles, developed by Westfield Sportscars and Heathrow Enterprises, have no steering wheels or typical
    Read More

Highlighted Content