Sunderland, a city in Northeast England, UK, is set to embrace a new era of mobility with the arrival of the Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle (SAMS). The project is led by Sunderland City Council in partnership with Aurrigo, Stagecoach, Angoka, Newcastle University, Swansea University and Boldyn Networks.
The SAMS project will trial three self-driving zero-emission autonomous shuttles, designed specifically for SAMS by Aurrigo, which will transport passengers on public roads between Sunderland Interchange, the University of Sunderland City Campus and the Sunderland Royal Hospital.
While safety operators will always be on board, the project should develop and demonstrate a cyber-secure remote supervision protocol.
The shuttle will run along an intelligent transportation corridor, enabled by 5G small cells that Boldyn Networks is installing along the vehicle route.
The project has been awarded £3m (US$3.8m) by the UK government, which has been matched by industry to a total of £6m (US$7.6m). The SAMS initiative is one of six successful CAM Deployment UK projects from the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) Deployment competition. The grants, which are part of the CCAV’s Connected and Automated Mobility program, are supported by CCAV, Innovate UK and Zenzic.
The shuttle has arrived in the city and will soon be transporting passengers when it takes to the streets in spring. The focus until then is on operator training, equipping onboard safety attendants with the necessary skills to oversee and manage autonomous operations. The training phase starts in April.
Preparations are also underway to commence the mapping of the route of SAMS’ operational area, as authorities aim to optimize its navigation capabilities.
Patrick Melia, chief executive at Sunderland City Council, said, “SAMS represents a significant leap forward in our efforts to embrace innovation and improve the quality of life for our residents. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this self-driving shuttle will have on urban mobility across Sunderland.”
Sunderland’s mayor, Councillor Dorothy Trueman, added, “We are thrilled to welcome the innovative SAMS shuttle to Sunderland, marking the beginning of a new era in urban mobility for our residents and visitors.”
Richard Fairchild, chief operations officer at Aurrigo, said, “Collaborating with technology leaders at Sunderland City Council and other project partners to develop plans into real-world solutions is a significant step forward in research for self-driving vehicles operating on public roads.”
Read more on autonomous shuttles here