Alexander Dennis, a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc., will continue its work in developing connected and automated buses through the Commercialising Connector project announced today, introducing full SAE Level 4 capability to its Enviro100AEV and Enviro200AEV self-driving buses.
Grant 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 has already seen three Alexander Dennis Enviro100AEV introduced to a route serving the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
The funding boost will allow the current services to be extended and test how self-driving buses can move from trial projects to real-world public transport services. It will help to gather further evidence about the customer experience, ticketing, and how safety and accessibility can be ensured.
Alexander Dennis and technology partner Fusion Processing Ltd will 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. A larger Enviro200AEV electric single-decker, equipped to the same standard, will also join the fleet. This will enable the project to demonstrate no-user-in-charge operation.
Commercialising Connector will also look at how self-driving buses could be used on Cambridgeshire’s planned busways, with a trial 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 has been awarded £3.88 million of grant funding as part of the UK Government’s £150 million 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.
Mark Cracknell, Programme Director at Zenzic, said: “Today’s announcement builds on all of the fantastic progress made by CAM Pathfinder so far and puts the UK firmly in the driving seat when it comes to developing and deploying the CAM solutions of tomorrow.
“From construction to public roads and airside, these projects have the potential to transform UK businesses, create and safeguard hundreds of jobs and further strengthen the domestic supply chain.”
Commercialising Connector is led by the Greater Cambridge Partnership and includes project partners Alexander Dennis, Fusion Processing, Anthrometric, Whippet and Ticketer.
