Milton Keynes, from its genesis, has been a testing ground for new technologies, design, architecture and ways of living and working. This culture of experimentation continues today as the city explores innovations to support the nation's drive to a smart, net-zero future. Early examples can be seen in the Starship delivery robots, which can often be found trundling across the city. Now, Milton Keynes is preparing for what could be a more significant shift – autonomous public transport.
The StreetCAV project seeks to digitally transform the city with ‘Plug and Play’ infrastructure to enable the operation of autonomous vehicles, robots and drones by various operators. Autonomous shuttles are one component of this initiative, soon to be trialled in Milton Keynes before a potential nationwide rollout. It was a component we explored in the MK2050 Strategic Growth Study, setting out how a transformation from “personal mobility to ‘smart, shared, sustainable mobility” can be achieved in line with the growth of the city. Autonomous vehicles, notably shuttles, were outlined as forming part of a feeder network to provide “first/last mile” transport.
As a part of a feeder network, autonomous shuttles could represent a revolution in public transport, creating a smarter, more seamless, and accessible network, fully connected with its users. This network has the potential to be safer and more reliable, down to a reduction in human influence, most notably driver errors and punctuality. Many of these are perceived benefits and will change over time as travel behaviours, patterns and lifestyles evolve. This can be seen in the long-running e-scooter trials, where early studies found the e-scooters to be replacing journeys which would have previously been made on foot. More recent analysis has begun to find e-scooters having a greater impact on reducing private vehicle trips and boosting trip chaining via other active and sustainable modes.
The emergence of autonomous shuttles prompts the question of whether technological advances in mobility will effectively encourage the modal shift needed to reduce transport-related emissions and achieve the numerous additional benefits of decreased private vehicle use, such as economic savings and increased physical activity. On its own, autonomous shuttles are unlikely to achieve this, but when combined with a suite of measures, including investment in physical and digital infrastructure, access to a variety of transport modes, and supportive measures like ticketing and affordability, there is potential for significant change.
Milton Keynes is a unique city, one thriving with opportunities. The success of this innovation will depend on its scalability, cost, integration with existing networks and infrastructure, and importantly, public adoption. Whether it can support a transformative shift in public transport or is simply another experiment, only time will tell – but for now it’s certainly one to watch.