Slow and stable. This is the approach in most countries in the world when it comes to autonomous cars on urban roads.
But on Tuesday, the UK announced it would step on the caution of bicycles, when the Transport Department said it would accelerate plans to allow companies to operate autonomous vehicles on public roads in a limited pilot program that will begin next spring. The UK government initially planned to open the roads of self-driving cars more than a year later in the second half of 2027.
“We can see the huge economic opportunity this technology brings,” Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said in an interview. The department estimates that the autonomous vehicle industry will create 38,000 jobs for the country by 2035 and create £42 billion ($57 million) for the country. The Secretary also cites the motivation behind the country’s new timetable, and the Secretary also proposes better and more effective travel options and road safety. “We know how companies deal with safety-related issues and we don’t want to sit around waiting for this technology to develop further,” she said.
Transport Ministry spokesman Marco Barbato said the pilot phase of the country’s self-driving car deployment will include a limited number of vehicles, and the government will spend about a year studying data on the production of these vehicles. The government aims to allow companies to fully launch autonomous taxi services in the second half of 2027.
Nevertheless, British government officials said they will prioritize safety. “Unless we are convinced that truly rigorous security testing has been met, we are not allowed to deploy this technology on our path,” Alexander said.
The major transport participants appear to be ready to take advantage of the government’s announcement. British self-driving car developer Wayve and Uber said on Tuesday that they will take advantage of the government’s new plan by launching self-driving car trials on London roads.
Wayve CEO and co-founder Alex Kendall said London would be a tricky place to operate self-driving cars. “It’s not Phoenix, Arizona, but a grid-like city in a desert where the sun always shines.” (Waymo began self-driving taxi services in Phoenix.) London, by comparison, is “a medieval structured environment. Its Jaywalkers are seven times as good as San Francisco.” He said launching services in London would help demonstrate how its autonomous technology is “scalable and trustworthy.” Kendall declined to say when Uber and Wayve will launch their services.
