ESP Group to join driverless car pilot scheme in UK
UK-based ESP Group has revealed that it is to join a pilot scheme that allows autonomous and connected vehicles enter public places such as airports, hospitals, business parks, tourist attractions and shopping centres.
The new scheme will include designing, development, testing and carrying out on-road public trials of driverless pods at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In addition, the scheme also includes development of systems and technologies that will facilitate safe navigation of driverless pods on pedestrian and road environments.
As part of the pilot scheme, ESP Group will be ensuring that the pilot service works for travellers and includes customer-centric offering such as service welcome material, ticketing and contact centre support during core service hours.
The UK-based firm will also be working on developing the business models that are suitable for the UK, as well as other regions. New services such as customer support through in-vehicle communications direct to drivers will be evaluated for the duration of the pilot.
ESP Group CEO Terry Dunn said: “As an organisation, we want to be at the forefront of innovation in the UK and help push forward world-class developments in public transport and future mobility.
"We intend to take a strong role in designing the details of vehicle deployment from a user’s perspective across the city for public transportation uses, as well as be involved in designing ways drivers can easily benefit from this technology."
ESP Group is a collection of academia, businesses, and public sector authorities, is part of 20 partnering organisations to create the CAPRI ('Connected & Autonomous POD on-Road Implementation') consortium.
The consortium will be combining a wide-range of skills and knowledge for building the next generation of PODs and autonomous vehicle technology.
For creating an easy-to-use driverless infrastructure, ESP Group has partnered with US-based engineering firm AECOM.
AECOM Europe Technology services director and head Lee Street said: “We’re delighted to have ESP Group on-board as one of our expert collaborators.
"Their expertise and track record in excelling customer expectations throughout the public transport industry meant that this partnership was an obvious choice for us.
"We look forward to developing this relationship and pushing this exciting initiative forward."
