Self-driving shuttles coming to Milton Keynes city centre soon

Advanced mapping is taking place in Milton Keynes city centre in preparation for a new trial of autonomous shuttles which will carry up to eight passengers around the city centre with multiple pick up and drop off points.

The Street Connected and Autonomous Vehicles project is led by Milton Keynes City Council and Smart City Consultancy with other partners. Once the mapping is completed, passengers will be able to try the shuttles for free on city centre roads, potentially starting in February.

The vehicles, supplied by Ohmio, a New Zealand-based self-driving shuttle manufacturer whose UK headquarters is in Milton Keynes, has been specially designed to operate in city centre environments at speeds under 15mph.

Ohmio has already trialled its autonomous shuttles in cities across Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Luxumberg and at JFK Airport in New York.

For the Milton Keynes trial, shuttles will be connected to a new city centre control room where they will be supervised and managed remotely. For the initial operation, the vehicles will have a fully trained safety operator on board ready to take control if needed.

Cllr Shanika Mahendran, Milton Keynes’ Cabinet Member for Economy, Sustainability, and Innovation, said, “We’re committed to exploring innovative transport solutions that benefit residents and visitors, while also creating food for thought for sustainable cities around the world. It’s really encouraging that we’ve managed to bring industry-leading partners together on this exciting project. I look forward to hearing about people’s experiences when they try the vehicles out.”

Ohmio’s UK Director Ian Pulford added, “This is an exciting step for Ohmio and Milton Keynes. The mapping task will establish the routes the shuttles will take and ensure they operate safely within a designated route – it will be like creating virtual tracks.”