Skip to main content

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.

Related Content

  • TRL pledges support for global initiative at UN Climate Summit
    October 2, 2014
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL)’s chief executive Rob Wallis, attending the United Nations Climate Summit in New York last week, was delighted to be able to pledge TRL’s support to the UEMI initiative, by UN-Habitat. “The UEMI initiative, aimed at substantially increasing the adoption of electric vehicles within urban environments, aligns strongly with TRL’s own strategy and current activities,” Wallis explained. “TRL is actively engaged in leading innovative research programmes to understan
  • Motability gives grant to TRL and RiDC for accessibility research
    October 31, 2023
    Focus is development of accessible automated transport for people with disabilities
  • Motorcycle manufacturers partner on C-ITS
    October 9, 2015
    BMW Motorrad, Honda Motor Company and Yamaha Motor Company have joined forces to enhance Cooperative-Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS) applications in powered two-wheelers (PTWs) and are working together to establish a consortium named Connected Motorcycle Consortium. According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed by all European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) manufacturing members in 2014, C-ITS features will be introduced from 2020 onwards. In order to acc
  • Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    November 23, 2017
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.