Edinburgh Napier’s Transport Research Institute has been serving Scotland and the UK since 1996. It has an established reputation for research, consultancy and teaching in transport policy; planning; and engineering. This includes offering expert research and consultancy on low-carbon transportation and new technology solutions for the future of UK transport and city solutions.

Problem:

The CavForth project is an ambitious project, run by Fusion Processing and funded by the UK government, that sets out to transform the UK’s public bus transportation system by the introduction of driverless buses. Five autonomous buses were launched as a pilot in May 2023, serving a 14-mile route across the Forth Road Bridge between the city of Edinburgh and Fife, Scotland. To achieve the vision of creating a more sustainable transport system, people and society understanding and trusting in the modernisation of this public transport system is not less important than the development of the technology itself. 

Solution:

Experts from Edinburgh Napier’s Transport Research Institute became a partner in the CAVForth project (joining Alexander Dennis, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Fusion Processing, Stagecoach, and Transport Scotland), with our Edinburgh Napier researchers taking a key role in examining and reporting the public’s perceptions and trust in an autonomous bus service. 

 

World-first as ‘self-driving’ buses hit the road

The CAVForth project and transport automation offers an opportunity to transform the ways people get around in years to come, while improving safety and reducing energy consumption. It is hoped that ‘connected and autonomous vehicles’ (CAVs) will provide huge social, industrial and economic benefits to the UK.

Evaluating people’s perceptions & trust 

Edinburgh Napier’s role in the CAVForth project has been to provide research to evaluate the public’s perception and reaction of driverless bus services - exploring user acceptance, user behaviour, and trust in the service.

The research to date (both prior to the launch of the service in May 2023 and since) has established that there are differences in opinions between people living in urban versus rural areas, with people living in urban areas seeking reassurance on the driving capacities of the buses; whereas people living in more rural contexts, are more inclined to use the services if they are convinced about the benefits that the services can bring to users and society. 

The trial is set to run until 2025, with the aim to demonstrate autonomous technology in a real-world environment, with the capacity of transporting up to 10,000 passengers per week, setting Scotland on the world-stage at the forefront of CAV development and societal integration.