DRIVERLESS BUSES

Guardian - The UK’s first driverless bus service, originally heralded as a breakthrough of global significance, is being withdrawn from service because too few passengers used it.The autonomous buses, operated by Stagecoach, have been running between Fife and Edinburgh along a 14-mile route over the Forth road bridge since May 2023 to relieve the heavy congestion which can bring traffic to a standstill...

Built at an estimated cost of more than £6m, partly funded by the UK government, the fleet of five single-decker buses had the capacity to carry 10,000 passengers a week but needed two crew on board for safety reasons.

In a brief statement, Stagecoach said that actual passenger numbers “did not reach expectations” and suggested this was a delay to the technology’s rollout rather than a setback.

The route is one of Scotland’s busiest commuter journeys, with about 80,000 vehicles a day using the Queensferry crossing, the recently built bridge sitting alongside the 60-year-old bridge used in the pilot project.The Scottish government has set a target to cut car usage by 20% by 2030 but the latest data shows that is a long way from being achieved