PURRING along at 50mph on the M90, Britain’s first robobus seemed to take everything in its stride.
The AB1 Service, which is armed with Artificial Intelligence (AI) software and high-tech sensors to keep you under the speed limit, even braked gently near a camera.
7
7
It’s a good thing. The bus’s human supervisors will pay the fine if the bus receives a ticket.
As we approached the Forth Road Bridge, in the brilliant sun, an unmarked family hatchback got very close to us and the technology hit the anchors.
Not wearing a safety belt, I was caught unawares and moved forward by a quick exhalation followed by a whispered insult.
It slowed down until it was clear that the hatchback would be a long way away. Then, it picked up speed again.
Beside me, conductor Abby Monks, or “captain”, as they are known on AB1, said: “Unfortunately we have other road users who like to cut in front of the bus.
“The bus has much quicker reactions than a human, so braking feels really harsh. We suggest passengers wear a seatbelt.”
Alongside the road ragers and middle-lane hoggers, Britain’s highways now have a new phenomenon — “autonomous vehicle bullies”.
The menaces, who can clearly see the words “autonomous bus” em- blazoned on the vehicle’s side, seem to take a devilish delight in testing the vehicle’s responses.
Yet Britain’s drivers may soon have to make room for their robot counterparts. For transport firm Stagecoach’s AB1 trial, partly funded by the Government, is the vanguard of Britain’s coming driverless vehicle revolution.
It is pitched as a safer alternative to human drivers, and ministers estimate the driverless car market here will create 38,000 jobs in an industry predicted to be worth £42billion.
But for me this dawning of motoring was not a good one when I got on a bus this week.
Boarding the diesel single- decker at Inverkeithing’s Ferry-toll Park and Ride, 14 miles northwest of Edinburgh, my AI bus journey was initially stymied by temperamental tech.
Angela Robb, the safety driver of the bus, drove it to Edinburgh Park Station on time over the Forth Bridge.
It was said that the problem would be resolved at the turn-around point in the station.
7
7
It was that IT expert who handled the problem.
“We switch it off and switch it on again,” Stagecoach’s Steven Russell explained with a giggle.
We were soon on our way, crossing Edinburgh’s ring road. The open motorway was calling and we let the AI do its work. Angela kept both hands on the wheel, reassuring me that she was prepared for any eventuality.
But it’s AI that’s now very much in the driving seat.
Two more drivers cut us off on the road as we returned to Ferrytoll. The bus braked hard.
The AB1 slowed abruptly before continuing on its way, and Steven, 35, Stagecoach’s Innovation Manager, told me: “We have experienced some autonomous vehicle bullying.
“We definitely wouldn’t encourage it. The buses are running properly at the correct speed. Physics plays a role. The bus will always try to stop for things but it’s best not to test it.”
Bus captain Abby, 31, from Dunfermline, calmingly told me: “We haven’t had any near misses.
“As the technology is still new, we have a safety driver in place if the bus isn’t sure what it wants to do.
“It’s very easy to switch it to manual. But to be honest, the AI has learnt the route so well we hardly ever have to take it over.”
Aimed at attracting commuters, the £7.20 peak return service, which began on May 15, runs every half an hour and has a potential capacity of 10,000 passengers a week.
These buses are guided by a combination of GPS, HD cameras and LiDAR lasers to measure distance. Data is collected at all times. In control is the vehicle’s AI, which scans 360 degrees of its surroundings “hundreds of times a second without blinking”.
The data allows the system to continually upgrade its performance, and Abby added: “We’re hoping in the future the AI system will learn not to brake so harshly.”
Steven told me: “The system is designed to be as safe as possible and to do that, it needs to open a distance between it and the car in front. An individual might ease off on the gas pedal and drive more slowly. This autonomous bus will brake hard in order to clear the space. It might not be the way a human drives but it is safer.”
It was more skillful than any human to take a looping sliproad from an autobahn.
Angela took the wheel as we approached roundabouts, traffic lights and other intersections. She has been a bus driver since she was 47 years old.
7
7
Her braking was gentler and more gradual than the machine’s.
The other passengers seemed less upset than I was by the AI bullying.
Retired bus driver Gordon Birrell, 68, of Cowdenbeath, said: “We did have a driver cut in front of us but it didn’t worry me. I think driverless buses are the future, but it might take 50 years.”
Stagecoach, Britain’s biggest bus firm, already has public funding to trial driverless shuttles in Sunderland and Cambridge.
Ford received permission last month to introduce its BlueCruise hands-free system. This makes Britain the first nation to have approved a motorway car with a hands-free feature.
The rollout of autonomous vehicles in the US is far from smooth. Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed in Arizona by an Uber driverless test vehicle on a street as she crossed the road.
In Britain, this month transport minister Jesse Norman told MPs that the UK will have to “weather a moral panic” before self-driving vehicles become commonplace.
When I returned to Ferrytoll from the airport, I called for a taxi. Told that his job could be on the way out, my cabbie said with a smile: “I’d like to see what happens when a robotaxi picks up a load of drunken clubbers at 3am.
“Who’s going to clean up the vomit from the back seat?”
7