Thousands of Brits are being driven around in driverless buses in plans for the ‘City of the Future’ – will you be driving them?

THOUSANDS of Britons are being driven around in driverless buses in plans for a ‘City of the Future’.

The self-driving, zero-emission shuttles are being trialled in Sunderland after receiving £6million in government and industry funding.

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The Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle Project is testing three self-driving Aurrigo Auto-Shuttles.

A security driver will be on board the shuttles just in case.

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These futuristic looking vehicles will transport passengers on public roads between the Sunderland Interchange, Sunderland Royal Hospital and the University of Sunderland City Campus.

And the initiative is being led by Sunderland City Council in partnership with Aurrigo, Stagecoach, Angoka Ltf, Newcastle University and Bai Communications.

The project has received a £3m government grant, which is being matched by industry professionals – making a total of £6m.

Liz St Louis, director of smart cities at Sunderland City Council, said Chronicle Live: “Harnessing the power of 5G technology and Sunderland’s leading smart city infrastructure.

“The focus of our ambitious project partners is underpinned by the ethos of leaving no one and nowhere behind.

“Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will deliver huge social, industrial and economic benefits around the world and we are very optimistic about a technology-driven future, powered by local know-how right here in Sunderland.”

The grants are part of the Center for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Connected and Automated Mobility program.

The aim is to help UK companies seize early opportunities to develop experimental projects.

Paul Butler, CEO of the North East Automotive Alliance said, “The Northeast region is uniquely positioned to develop, test and commercialize Connected and Autonomous Logistics (CAL) projects.

“It is home to a critical mass of local manufacturing industry with ambitious growth plans.

“We are excited to receive V-CAL project funding to scale and extend the first 5G CAL proof of concept that ended in 2022 and two true industrial use cases for scaling and deploying a connected and provide autonomous logistics. “