The UK’s pioneering driverless bus service, launched in Scotland to alleviate traffic congestion, is being discontinued due to insufficient passenger interest.
The Guardian reports that the United Kingdom’s first autonomous bus service, which was launched with great fanfare in May 2023, is being withdrawn from operation. The decision comes after passenger numbers failed to meet expectations, despite the service’s promise to revolutionize public transportation in the region.
The CAVForth service, a collaborative effort between Stagecoach, Fusion Processing, Alexander Dennis, Napier University in Edinburgh, and the Bristol Robotics Lab, aimed to reduce the heavy traffic congestion along the 14-mile route between Fife and Edinburgh. The route, which crosses the Forth road bridge, is one of Scotland’s busiest commuter corridors, with approximately 80,000 vehicles traversing it daily.
The project, which cost an estimated £6 million ($7.5 million) and was partially funded by the UK government, involved a fleet of five single-decker buses capable of carrying up to 10,000 passengers per week. However, despite the advanced technology and the potential to alleviate traffic woes, the service struggled to attract sufficient ridership.
Stagecoach, in a brief statement, acknowledged that passenger numbers “did not reach expectations” and framed the decision to withdraw the service as a temporary setback rather than a permanent failure. The company and its partners remain committed to exploring new opportunities for self-driving technology in other areas across the UK.
The Scottish government has set an ambitious target to reduce car usage by 20 percent by the year 2030, but current data suggests that this goal is far from being achieved. Transform Scotland, a campaign group, predicts that cars will travel more than 40 billion kilometers annually by 2030, a significant increase from the 34 billion kilometers recorded last year. Additionally, a record 3.1 million vehicles of all types were registered in Scotland in 2022.
Although bus usage has grown recently, partly due to free bus passes for individuals under 22 and over 60, it remains well below pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, bus drivers in Scotland have expressed concerns about a growing trend of antisocial behavior on buses, which has been linked to the introduction of free bus travel for young people.
Read more at the Guardian here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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