MK takes poll position in pioneering intelligent mobility

A project to develop fully automated, driverless vehicles on the streets of Milton Keynes has won the 2015 Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Automotive Award for Innovation.

The LUTZ Pathfinder project, from the Transport Systems Catapult, is trialling two-seater electric ‘pods’, which will provide public transport along pedestrian routes, for example between train stations and city centres. 

Pathfinder, which is overseen by the Transport Systems Catapult on behalf of the UK Automotive Council, is a collaborative project involving Coventry-based manufacturers RDM Group, the University of Oxford’s Mobile Robotics Group (MRG) and Milton Keynes Council.

At Smarter Travel LIVE Geoff Snelson, director of strategy at Milton Keynes Council, will reveal how the city is pioneering intelligent mobility solutions.

As well as offering an update on the LUTZ Pathfinder trial, Snelson will map out the road ahead for mobility as a service as car ownership levels fall among younger people. He will explain how the inexorable move “towards a sharing economy will enable new solutions and integrated journey planning and payment”.  

The growing acceptance of electric and low carbon mobility is paving the way for technologies such as induction charging, which is currently being trialled on electric buses in Milton Keynes, says Snelson. 

At Smarter Travel LIVE the MIK transport team will focus on Cloud Enabled Mobility (CEM). “This concept seeks to connect users with information and other cloud-based services to enable ‘smart’ spontaneous public transport decisions,” says Snelson. “'Busyness' information is being made available to the public via a new city-wide app known as MotionMap, using data from a variety of sources to make travelling easier. 

“Prototype devices have been produced that can detect the presence of crowds and provide some indication of their size and movement, and a driver behaviour app is being deployed to collect a range of data, including traffic flows and road surface conditions.” 

Geoff Snelson and the Milton Keynes transport team will be on hand to discuss the city’s intelligent mobility ambitions at Smarter Travel LIVE.