[access-uk] Re: Milton Keynes introducing driverless public transport pods by 2017 - News - Gadgets & Tech - The Independent
- From: "C. M. B." <craigmblake1@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 10:54:01 +0000
I live in Milton Keynes, and by god, I’d love this. public transport here sucks
as it is. I have to travel by taxi all the time, which costs a bomb, and using
the buses is a definite no-go since I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m
getting off, and in some areas there are no designated bus stops.
Craig
On 7 Nov 2013, at 10:30, Gordon Keen <gordonkeen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It is to be hoped the app will be fully accessible and guide dog friendly!
>
> http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/milton-keynes-introducing-driverless-public-transport-pods-by-2017-8925119.html
>
> Milton Keynes introducing driverless public transport pods by 2017
>
> Milton Keynes has announced plans to deploy a driverless public transport
> system. 100 pods will be introduced to the town alongside an accompanying
> smartphone app that can be used to book and pay for journeys.
>
> Each pod will have enough space for two passengers and luggage and will
> travel up to speeds of 12mph. The pods are powered by electronic motors and
> will initially be given their own lanes, though there are plans to remove
> these once residents have become accustomed to the technology.
>
> The pods will be used to ferry passengers between the train station and
> shopping centres and offices a mile away. Each journey will cost £2, with the
> project expected to generate £1m of revenue in the first year, and costing a
> total of £65 million.
>
> Trial pods will be introduced in 2015 with steering wheels or joysticks to
> control them. The full, driverless system will hit the streets later in 2017.
> Pictures suggest that the vehicles itself will be the EN-V Pride, an urban
> electric concept car developed by General Motors and Segway (see below for a
> video).
>
> “It’s a great initiative and we are being as supportive as we can be at the
> moment to overcome a number of regulating hurdles,” said Bint, Milton Keynes
> Council’s cabinet member for transport and highways, told a local paper.
>
> Bint believes that the system will ease parking problems and pollution in the
> city, but notes that as the pod is neither a nor a taxi the council needs to
> “work out how it’s going to be permitted.”
>
> “It will continue to boost the reputation as a centre for innovation and it
> will contribute to local transport needs by completing the jigsaw of our
> transport system,” says Bint.
>
> The EN-V Pride in Shanghai. Image credit: General Motors
>
> “At the moment we have a great service for long distance travel to MK, but
> when you get here we need a localised system that can get you from the train
> station or home to an office or shop without the pollution or parking issues
> that come with cars and taxis.”
>
> The pods have been designed by Ultra Global, a company that previously
> installed a system of driverless pods in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. The pods
> transport 800 passengers each between the terminal’s car park and its main
> entrance and consists of 21 vehicles operating on a 3.8 kilometer ‘guideway’.
> The system was installed in 2011 and has since carried more than 700,000
> passengers.
>
> Unlike the T5 Heathrow pods, the planned scheme in Milton Keynes will have no
> guideway, and will instead use a combination of GPS, high definition cameras
> and ultrasonic sensors to navigate and avoid pedestrians, similar to the
> technology used in self-driving cars.
>
>
>
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