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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The future of in-vehicle navigation systems
    February 3, 2012
    TRL's Alan Stevens looks at the evolution and future prospects of in-vehicle navigation devices. Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) plays a crucial role in the safety of vehicles on our roads. Until we achieve full automation (and that's a debatable prospect anyway) a driver's interaction with the vehicle - all the controls, information and systems - holds a pivotal role in safe driving.
  • TRL aligns with Flare VRU data
    March 1, 2023
    Adding micromobility hazard detection to iMAAP platform will improve road safety
  • Inrix informs FHWA’s data improvements
    December 19, 2017
    Refinements in the data available from the US Federal Highway Administration will improve road management across America. David Crawford reports. In August 2017, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued the first results from an upgraded version of its National Performance Management Research Data Set (NPMRDS). Developed to identify the locations and times of high congestion affecting traffic flows along America’s 259,000km (161,000 mile) national highway system, this is a key resource for sta
  • Integrate systems to reduce roadside infrastructure
    January 27, 2012
    David Crawford reviews promising current developments. Instrumentation of the road infrastructure has grown to become one of the most dynamic sectors of the ITS industry. Drivers for its deployment include global concerns over the commercial and environmental pressures of traffic congestion, the importance of keeping drivers informed throughout their journeys, and the need to reduce accident rates and promote the safety of all road users, for example by enforcing traffic safety rules.