Futuristic autonomous shuttles operating for West Midlands passengers - all you need to know
Solihull's new self-driving shuttles are now in operation - but passengers face a wait for the full route to go live as it is being rolled out in phases.
The cube-like driverless buses will eventually operate a 7km route along key destinations in the borough and stops will include the bp pulse LIVE Arena, Birmingham International rail station and Birmingham Business Park.
The route is going live in phases, Solihull Council has confirmed, which means that full route will only be available from the summer.
READ MORE: Major Solihull update on plans to transform Mell Square shopping centre
Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp
However, the NEC portion of the shuttle route is now live and is shuttling visitors around for "busy events", council bosses confirmed.
The fleet of autonomous buses will eventually operate a seven kilometre-route, a little over four miles, in Solihull.
Solihull Council said the Solihull and Coventry Automated Links Evolution (SCALE) project had been established to better understand how self-driving vehicles might feature within future transport systems.
The first phase of the route, linking bp pulse LIVE Arena to the VIP & blue badge parking area, was launched on March 19 during an international trade delegation visit.
Currently, the trial service is now open for passengers visiting upcoming major events at the NEC including the Commercial Vehicle Show.
The first phase of the shuttle route at the NEC is live until April 7, but will be extended in further sections to link passengers from Birmingham International rail station to the NEC and Birmingham Business Park by the summer.
The accessible fully electric shuttles being used have been built by New Zealand based autonomous vehicle manufacturer Ohmio, represented in the UK by Ohmio UK, and can carry up to 14 passengers.
Shuttles have cameras and sensors to understand their surroundings, allowing them to interact with live traffic and move around safely.
Each journey will also be tracked in real time from TfWM's control centre on Summer Lane.
The project is being delivered by a consortium led by Solihull Council, including both WMG at the University of Warwick and Coventry University, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the NEC, Coventry City Council and automated vehicle simulation specialists IPG and dRISK.
Cllr Andy Mackiewicz, cabinet member for climate change and planning, said: "Connected Automated Mobility (CAM) technology has the potential to revolutionise the way we get around.
"We are excited to be leading the way, not just in Solihull, but regionally and across the country, in providing learning on CAM deployments in different settings and scenarios.'
'Taking place across one of the best-connected destinations in the UK and Europe, this new Solihull-based route will join up three key assets within the UK Central Hub area, operating in a busy but controlled environment and gaining further real-world operating experience.
'As part of our continuous learning, colleagues at TfWM will be conducting a series of passenger surveys to better understand attitudes around this technology and potential barriers.
"I'd encourage anyone who is interested in helping to shape the future of automated transport to check the next development dates and take a ride for themselves."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Will Trump's policies kill Massachusetts' life sciences leadership?
Advertisement Although the industry is centered in eastern Massachusetts, there's a statewide benefit from all the tax dollars those businesses and workers pay. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up In all, Massachusetts organizations — including universities, research institutes, and hospitals — received $3.5 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Massachusetts-headquartered companies raised $3.26 billion in venture capital funding. Among all drugs in the development pipeline in the United States, 15 percent were being made by companies headquartered in Massachusetts. But actions taken by President Trump and his administration — cutting funding for scientific research and universities, flirting with tariffs, fanning skepticism about vaccines — threaten to devastate the ecosystem. Today, the industry is at a precipice, and uncertainty abounds. Some companies are already feeling the pinch of terminated federal grants, while others are anxious about what might come. Taken together, Trump's policies could force some companies and scientists to take their money, talents, and products overseas. Advertisement Christopher Locher, CEO of Lowell-based Versatope Therapeutics, which develops a platform to deliver vaccines and therapeutics, said he worries the Greater Boston life sciences ecosystem is 'being flushed down the toilet.' For example, Trump is Trump's funding cuts are already having a large impact on some local companies. Part of the problem is the Trump administration isn't only cutting funding, but it's picking which technologies to fund — in some cases apparently based on politics more than science. Take flu vaccines. The Trump administration recently announced a $500 million campaign to fund the development of a universal flu vaccine, which doesn't require annual updates, using technology being worked on But simultaneously, he cut funding for other work on a universal flu vaccine. Versatope Therapeutics got $14 million in NIH funding and spent five years developing a universal flu vaccine. It had approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials when Trump terminated the contract's remaining $8 million, with the reason given being 'convenience,' Locher said. Trump also Advertisement Company executives say decisions by Trump officials to disinvest in vaccine-related technology — and concerns about whether government will approve new technology — means it's nearly impossible to find private investment funding to replace lost federal dollars. 'We're faced with bankruptcy in the very near future,' Locher said. Ironically, given Trump's stated commitment to bringing businesses back to the United States, one potential option Locher is eyeing is opening a subsidiary abroad. Conducting clinical trials would be cheaper in another country, whether in Europe, Australia, or China, Locher said, and some countries are offering financial incentives to American companies to relocate. Companies also face a potential workforce brain drain. There have been MassBio officials said China has less rigorous — but faster — safety and research protocols than the US. Australia allows a faster timeline for clinical trials. If regulatory approval of medicines is held up because the FDA is understaffed, companies may seek European regulatory approval instead. The loss of talent to foreign countries will be compounded if the pipeline of local university graduates dries up. One draw for life sciences companies to Boston/Cambridge is the presence of elite schools like Harvard and MIT, with their potential for faculty collaboration and skilled graduates. Advertisement Trump is trying to Chip Clark, CEO at Vibrant Biomedicines in Cambridge, said cuts to university research funding both 'shrink the pipeline of great ideas' that form the basis for many biotech startups and translate to fewer available scientists. Clark said the administration's policies 'seem like a deliberate attempt to try to cede scientific leadership to Europe and Japan and Korea and China. ... They will be delighted to capitalize on our talent, technology, and investment capital to make their robust biotech sectors grow and ultimately compete successfully against the US industry,' he said. Don Ingber, founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, said he has postdocs with US visas applying for jobs in Europe, and others who were accepted to work at Harvard but are going elsewhere. 'The fact that places like Harvard and MIT and American universities are magnets for the best and brightest from around the world is what's driven our technology economy and certainly the Boston/Cambridge ecosystem,' Ingber said. 'With this uncertainty, I fear we'll lose a generation.' Ingber, who was forced to stop work on two government-funded projects on drugs designed to prevent injury from radiation exposure, compared administration policies to 'eating seed corn' needed to grow crops. Advertisement Trump's vendetta will undermine one of the most vibrant state economies in the country and set back American science by years. And it's not just eastern Massachusetts that will pay a price; the entire country will. As Ingber noted, it might take years to see the impact of medicines or technologies that aren't developed because of these shortsighted cuts. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
I'm a Gen Zer who landed a 6-figure job at Morgan Stanley before graduation. Here's what the process was like — and why you should refresh a surprisingly important part of your résumé.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sara Thomas, 22, a 2025 graduate from the University of Chicago and incoming investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. Business Insider's recent " Path to Wall Street" series highlighted how finance careers continue to attract young talent, despite the industry's long hours and demanding entry-level roles. Entry-level bankers typically earn about $110,000 a year, not including bonuses. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I had barely decided on banking as a career choice when I had to start preparing for interviews. My experience was similar to most stories I've heard about the banking world: the recruiting process starts early. Before submitting my internship applications, I spoke to about five people at each major bank — mostly recent UChicago grads and people the university's career advancement program connected me with — so they would recognize my name when they saw my résumé. Cold LinkedIn messaging didn't work very well for me. Those introductions are often necessary to get an interview. At most banks, I interviewed for multiple rounds, including calls focused on my personality and technical skills and a two-hour " super day." The whole process lasted about two weeks. Then, by the spring of my sophomore year, I was done. I landed an internship at Morgan Stanley, and I knew my full-time job would be set as long as I got a return offer. My prior internships had been at Bain Capital and the Chicago-based firm Ariel Investments. The only other career trajectory I considered in college was academia. I studied economics and considered getting involved with economics research, but I realized it wasn't for me. I just work better in a faster-paced finance environment. In my free time at school, I tried to focus on clubs and internships that would keep me close to startups and entrepreneurship, so I joined a venture capital fund on campus. I was also involved in a campus group for women and minorities interested in finance and investing. Those opportunities really helped me build my industry chops. I would tell any college student hoping to land a Wall Street or Silicon Valley job: be decisive. Even if investment banking or consulting isn't your lifelong passion, plan to commit to a career path sooner rather than later, so that you can give yourself the most amount of time to prepare, network, and do really well in the interviews. And, for the application process, students need to be careful with what they put on their résumé — recruiters pay a lot of attention to the "skills and interests" section at the bottom. Don't say that you're a mountain climber if you have never climbed a mountain, because people will ask you about your hobbies, and you need to be able to genuinely talk about them. Of course, your credentials matter, but I've found that recruiters are most interested in meeting well-rounded people. Job applications and postgrad life make me anxious sometimes. I've leaned on my friends a lot: Some aren't going into finance, others have gone through recruiting alongside me. I'm also grateful for my family — my Morgan Stanley role will be in San Francisco, and it will be the first time I've moved far from home, since I grew up in Chicago. Exercise has always been a coping strategy for me, too. I'm trying to build healthy habits and make sure I don't isolate myself. Those are the main ways I'm dealing with stress. Long, long term, my biggest goal is to be able to work for myself in some way. That could mean working at a big company that gives me a lot of autonomy to make decisions or starting my own company, if I am brave enough to do that. For now, I'm excited to keep building my career and learning from my coworkers. Having engaging conversations with people you've never met can be the most challenging part of the finance industry, but it's also the most rewarding.
Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Exclusive: Logistics safety startup Voxel raises $44M Series B
Logistics safety startup Voxel closed a $44 million Series B led by NewRoad Capital Partners, CEO Vernon O'Donnell tells Axios Pro exclusively. Why it matters: It gives San Franscisco-based Voxel three years of runway to reach breakeven or accelerate growth and raise again, its CEO says. How it works: The software integrates into existing security cameras, using AI to identify in real time — and increasingly predict — workplace hazards. Such scenarios include shelf integrity, forklift operation, employee movements or aisle spills that could present safety concerns. While worker safety is the core business case, the software's capabilities extend to productivity and efficiency, O'Donnell says. State of play: Nearly 3 million people die in workplace incidents each year globally, according to the International Labour Organization. Worker compensation, increased insurance premiums and a toll on morale stem from such incidents, hitting companies' annual bottom lines. Zoom in: Voxel counts 14 Fortune 500 customers, six of which have signed contracts in the last 120 days, the CEO says. One Fortune 50 customer changed the entire loading and unloading process for a more than 1 million-square-foot distribution center based on Voxel's recommendations, he says. Adopters across various sectors include Albertsons, Dick's Sporting Goods, Americold, AGI, the Port of Virginia and Berry Global. What they're saying: "We're seeing ... a hard ROI: reduction in worker's comp claims, reduction in OSHA fines, reduction in lost days," O'Donnell says. "Their speed of using AI to then be able to classify, 'is this an unsafe act or not?' and then alert leadership to take action — that's what really sold us," said Chris Sultemeier, NewRoad Capital Partners operating partner and former Walmart EVP of logistics. Friction point: Union workers have sometimes objected to video monitoring they consider invasive.
