Driverless cars are now being deployed alongside regular traffic on the streets of central Coventry as part of the UK’s largest connected and autonomous vehicle project.

 

The UK Autodrive scheme has moved onto public roads for the first time to test a number of connected car features as well as self driving vehicle technology in a real world setting.

 

“Autonomous and connected cars will be a reality in the near future and I am confident they will help to boost safety, reduce congestion and improve air quality,” said Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for jobs and regeneration Jim O’Boyle.

 

Consultant Arup’s UK Autodrive project director Tim Armitage said: “Our previous private test track trials showed that the technology works but it is only on real roads that we will start to see the scale of the benefits that it can bring to the general public.”

 

Project partners Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) are collaborating to explore the benefits of having cars that can ‘communicate’ with each other and the surrounding infrastructure.

 

Among the connected car technologies being trialled in Coventry are ‘Intersection Collision Warning’, which alerts drivers when it is unsafe to enter a junction, and ‘In-Vehicle Signage’, which sends information about road conditions, congestion or other incidents directly to the in car display. 

 

Meanwhile Jaguar Land Rover and TMETC are separately trialling their autonomous vehicle research technologies, with trained test operators supervising the cars at all times. 

 

Further trials are scheduled to take place in Coventry and Milton Keynes early next year followed by a final series of open road demonstration events in both cities during the second half of 2018.