Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle

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This project will help define a more sustainable future for urban mobility. It will research, build, trial and evaluate the feasibility of deploying a level 4 autonomous zero-emission passenger mobility service in Sunderland, increasing connectivity between a key transport interchange and two high-volume destinations: the University of Sunderland City Campus and Sunderland Royal Hospital, via an Intelligent Transport Corridor (ITC). Operated by an established transport provider, it will build on the Sunderland Smart City programme to deliver significant operator, end-user, research and city benefits. The trial will be delivered by an autonomous zero-emission shuttle along a 5km route, alongside existing public transport provision. The service will be underpinned by cyber-resilient 5G-enabled communications, conversing in real-time with ITC/Smart City infrastructure and the regional transport control room (UTMC, where teleoperations will be based). This will ensure traffic optimisation for all road users (especially shuttle users). Study will explore our ultimate goal of enabling a teleoperator to supervise one-to-many shuttles.What we will do:• Establish live city-centre trial shuttle operations including: maintenance, control, facilities, charging infrastructure;• Autonomous Vehicle passenger/stakeholder engagement to inform service provision, customer experience, safety, accessibility, acceptance and pricing;• Public awareness/engagement to understand the experience of users and non-users;• Analyse safety and security cases, and cyber threat modelling/risk assessment, to ensure full alignment with legislative/regulatory/security standards;• Compile a comprehensive evidence-based evaluation to assess impacts/benefits;• Explore a remote teleoperations model, using an in-situ quantum-secure cyber-security layer on a low-latency private 5G network, eventually allowing replacement of the onboard safety driver, with many of the components tested in situ.What we will deliver:• A demonstrable and robust evidence base for how autonomous low-carbon public transport can operate in a real-world city environment, driving modal shift, making low-carbon mass transit viable, increasing choice/availability, and delivering benefits within the Sunderland Smart City programme;• An exploitation plan, making the case for further investment and expansion to other identified routes, including a business model and deployment/scaling plan for a sustainable shuttle service locally and regionally;• Taking partners from technology development to service development, including identifying upstream/downstream supply-chain, highlighting any gaps therein.What makes it innovative• Integration with the existing Intelligent Transport Corridor and Smart City infrastructure;• Demonstrating the potential for operators of level 4 autonomous public transport services to ultimately enable an off-board teleoperator to move to one-to-many, supervisor to shuttle ratio;• Live operations in a city centre, high traffic environment;• Quantum-secure cyber-security layer on a low-latency private 5G network.