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Work has begun on a key test route for real world driving trials of self-driving cars in the Midlands.

The 300km Midlands Future Mobility test environment includes the city’s ring road, as well as others around Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham.

It will see autonomous vehicles trialled on urban, rural, suburban and highway roads.

The first phase of the route includes the University of Warwick, Coventry ring road, roads in Meriden, Solihull and central Birmingham around the Jewellery Quarter.

Later this year the route will be extended to include rural and highway roads and span up to 350km.

Project consortium member Costain and contractor Siemens Mobility have begun work on the route, which will officially open for trials later this year.

Both firms are practising social distancing in the construction of key technical features such as CCTV networks along the route.

How the testing will work

Initially ‘connected’ vehicles will be tested along the route. Connected vehicles can communicate with each other and warn of traffic, crashes and other hazards that other connected vehicles may have seen or be heading towards.

The vehicles on the Midlands Future Mobility route will not be driving themselves during the early stages of research.

Initially they will have a driver and occasionally a second person monitoring how the vehicles are working.

In the future autonomous vehicles will be trialled on the route, however these will also be closely monitored by safety operators ready to take over immediately in the event of a problem.

 

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/work-begins-self-driving-car-18285017