First UK AV trial of its kind gets thumbs up from London participants

Our Shared Research Programme (SRP) members organised and completed an automated vehicle (AV) trial throughout December in London to gauge consumer acceptance of AVs and need for future transport services. Managed by TRL, this was the first UK AV trial to use an open-architecture vehicle.

WHERE DID THE TRIALS TAKE PLACE?

The trials took place around the streets of Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. The range of complex road features in the area, such as the mix of residential & commercial areas, parking bays, charging points and many more features enabled the SRP members to increase their understanding of consumer attitudes towards AVs and help shape the future of autonomous mobility services in London.

Local residents and stakeholders were invited – as research participants for the SRP study – to ride in our SMLL AV and complete a short survey about their experience.

The AV drove around the trial route (a fixed loop with the same pick up and drop off point) complying with the sign-posted speed limit of 5mph, with the ride lasting approximately 10 minutes.

The vehicle had a safety driver, safety engineer and marshal on board. One participant commented “I feel that testing is being done responsibly and at a proper pace and that safety issues are paramount”.

THE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE

The test vehicle used was a Nissan e-NV200, converted by StreetDrone into a Level 3 autonomous mobile unit.

Lucien Linders, General Manager at SMLL, said “The sensors and AV system are built on an open-architecture platform to accommodate research and service delivery of any type of AV technology or AV connectivity with infrastructure, using the same vehicle.”

Another participant said, “I believe that this technology, once proven, should prevent quite a few accidents and make travelling much more enjoyable”. Another expressed that “being transparent about how it works helps to inspire confidence”.

TRIAL CONCLUSIONS

The participants told us how safe they felt while riding in the vehicle - 96% responded that they felt very safe or safe and 4% neither safe nor unsafe.

These results are similar to those from the 2016 GATEway Project[1], but substantially more favourable than Deloitte’s 2018 Global Automotive Consumer Study[2] which reported that 72% of consumers believed AVs to be unsafe.

This proves that being given the opportunity to experience an AV can change public perception and improve trust.

The SMLL testbed is a CCAV and InnovateUK funded project, led by TRL. Once complete, the project will have built 20km of instrumented roads in Stratford and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Early installation of monitoring infrastructure around Royal Arsenal has made these trials possible, demonstrating that the UK is ready to deliver real-world trials of advanced vehicle technologies and new forms of transport.

[1] https://trl.co.uk/sites/default/files/GATEway-Project-Final-Report-brochure.pdf

[2] https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/de/Documents/consumer-business/2018_GACS_Data%20Deck_Germany.pdf