Pilots of self-driving taxi and bus services will be launched in spring 2026, the government has announced, as it looks to attract UK investment in the burgeoning technology.
Over the last few years, both MPs and the automotive sector have warned that the UK risks squandering its lead in self-driving technology if the legislation to make its operation possible on public roads is not quickly passed.
But transport secretary Heidi Alexander has now confirmed that the government will fast-track driverless car pilots and introduce self-driving commercial pilots on England’s roads.
Firms will initially be able to pilot small-scale ‘taxi- and bus-like’ services without a safety driver for the first time – which could be available to members of the public to book via an app – before a potential wider roll-out when the full Automated Vehicles Act becomes law from the second half of 2027.
The act will require self-driving vehicles to achieve a level of safety at least as high as competent and careful...