Cambridge Launches New Trial for Self-Driving Bus Service

A new self-driving bus has been introduced on a trial basis in Cambridge, as part of efforts to explore autonomous public transport in the region.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) is operating the 26-seater vehicle on weekdays along a route connecting Trumpington and Babraham Park & Rides with the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. This follows an earlier, smaller trial in West Cambridge that began in June and has already carried 800 passengers on 2,000 journeys.

The vehicle in use is the Enviro100AEV electric autonomous bus, which features an SAE Level 4 automated drive system.

GCP, a city deal group involving local authorities and the University of Cambridge, is collaborating with a range of partners on the project, including Fusion Processing (automated vehicle specialist), Alexander Dennis (electric bus manufacturer), dRISK (information security platform), Whippet (bus operator), and research firm Anthrometric.

Dan Clarke, GCP’s Head of Innovation and Technology, said:

“In June, we launched Connector, Cambridge’s first timetabled self-driving bus service. Now, just six months later, we are introducing two larger buses as part of the second phase of our passenger trial.“We believe self-driving vehicles have real potential to provide sustainable and reliable public transport in Cambridge. Beyond demonstrating that the technology works at scale, we are also studying the passenger experience to build confidence and trust in autonomous buses.”

The Connector project is funded by the UK Government under the CAM Pathfinder programme, delivered by the Department for Business and Trade’s Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) team, in partnership with Innovate UK and Zenzic.