Alexander Dennis has announced that it will continue with development of connected and automated buses through the Commercialising Connector project, including the introduction of full SAE Level 4 capability to its Enviro100AEV and Enviro200AEV self-driving buses.
Funding provided by the UK Government will allow a project coalition led by the Greater Cambridge Partnership to build on the success of the Connector programme, which, thus far, has seen a set of three Alexander Dennis Enviro100AEV introduced to a route serving the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
The latest funding boost will allow current services to be extended, as well as test how self-driving buses may move from trial projects to real-world public transport services. It will also help to gather further evidence regarding the customer experience, ticketing, and how both safety and accessibility can be ensured.
Alexander Dennis will work with technology partner Fusion Processing Ltd to upgrade one of the existing Enviro100AEV, owned by Mistral Group and operated by Whippet, with dual redundant actuator technology to achieve full SAE Level 4 capability, with a larger Enviro200AEV electric single-decker, equipped to the same standard, also set to join the fleet, enabling the project to demonstrate unmanned operation.
The Commercialising Connector project will also look at how self-driving buses could be used on Cambridgeshire’s planned busways, with a trial now set to take place on the southern section of the existing guided busway.
Jamie Wilson, Head of Concepts & Advanced Engineering for Alexander Dennis, said:Today’s confirmation of the Commercialising Connector project is fantastic news as it will continue the great work delivered by the Greater Cambridge Partnership and project partners.
With the help of this latest UK Government funding, we will be able to deliver the most advanced self-driving buses in the country yet and develop them into a commercial proposition that can enhance and complement real-world bus services.
We have a window of opportunity to develop and enhance the core expertise for connected and automated vehicles on a domestic level, not only securing job opportunities in Britain but also ensuring sovereignty over this key technology for transport.
Commercialising Connector, which is led by the Greater Cambridge Partnership and includes project partners Alexander Dennis, Fusion Processing, Anthrometric, Whippet and Ticketer, was awarded 3.88 million GBP of grant funding as part of the UK Government’s 150 million GBP CAM Pathfinder programme, delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with Zenzic and Innovate UK. All UK Government grant funding is subject to HMG approval.
