The fleet will cover a 14-mile route, in mixed traffic, at up to 50mph across the iconic Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh. The service will operate a frequent timetable with the capacity for around 10,000 journeys per week and will have two members of staff on board. One safety driver in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology, and a ‘Captain’ in the saloon to take tickets and answer customers questions.
CAVForth is a joint project that also involves Fusion Processing, Stagecoach, Transport Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University and Bristol Robotics Lab which is part funded by the UK Government's Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.
Scotland’s minister for transport Kevin Stewart, said: “Our trunk road network can provide a wide range of environments as a diverse testing ground, and the ground-breaking and globally significant Project CAVForth will really help Scotland establish its credentials on the world stage.”
Jamie Wilson, head of concepts & advanced engineering at Alexander Dennis, said: “Our Enviro200AV autonomous buses will demonstrate latest innovation in vehicle technology, and we are delighted that passengers travelling between Fife and Edinburgh will be able to experience this for themselves when the service launches next month.”