Look, no hands: Scotland to launch autonomous buses

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.

Of all the forms of mechanised transport, driving is my least favourite. I am not very good at it. I have a licence that has remained miraculously clean for decades, largely because I tend to drive only every few years.

Mostly I motor in circumstances where renting a car is nigh-obligatory – mainly the less-populated areas of the US, where the concept of public transport does not appear to have occurred to the authorities.

This week a motoring charity launched a campaign to make a second driving test mandatory for people who are lucky enough to attain the age of 85. IAM Roadsmart appreciates that older drivers have certain safety features that the young may lack – from an abundance of caution to a lower inclination to take illegal drugs. But their reflexes and sight may have eroded over the years.

Currently the onus is on drivers aged 70-plus (and there are more than 500 aged over 100) to self-assess and report any deficiencies. A second test would certainly reduce risks. But how much better it will be when automobiles have proper autonomy – and transport people of any age much more safely than they could drive.

One month from now, Scotland will show the way. From 15 May 2023, a fleet of five Stagecoach buses will start shuttling across the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh Park Transport Interchange and Ferrytoll Park & Ride outside Inverkeithing. While neither location could be described as an aesthetic joy to matcg great transport termini such as St Pancras station in London or the harbour at Rhodes, the single-deck vehicles will cross the majestic Forth Road Bridge.

At which point, I hope the “Safety Driver” in the seat at the front will be able to pause from monitoring the technology and look out of the window. He or she can take in the corrugated shores of great gash dividing the Lothians from the Kingdom of Fife, as well as the even-more-magnificent Forth Bridge carrying the railway north. You can’t (or shouldn’t) do that when you’re driving for real.

The project is known as CAVForth. It is running two years late. But I predict the bus service will swiftly become the Forth Hands-Free, and become accepted as an…