SCOTTISH COLUMN
FLEETNEWS SCOTLAND
Stagecoach and Transport Scotland have tried to allay road safety concerns raised by motoring groups after the Scottish parliament approved a £2.4million scheme allowing autonomous buses to use a motorway hard shoulder.
It is intended that these and other buses will use the eastbound hard shoulder of the M8 on a fourmile section between Newbridge and Hermiston Gait on the western edge of Edinburgh.
The plan is expected to be implemented in advance of the start of the Project CAVForth connected and autonomous vehicle trials in the autumn, when Stagecoach will run adapted Alexander Dennis Enviro200s between Ferrytoll park-&-ride in Fife and Edinburgh Park via the M90, M9 and M8. The buses will still have drivers on board.
The M8 scheme follows the introduction of similar ‘actively managed hard shoulders’ for buses on the M90 on either side of the Queensferry Crossing and on the M9 between Winchburgh and Newbridge, which the automated buses will also use. Unlike English smart motorways, where any vehicle can travel on hard shoulders at 70mph, there is a 40mph limit on the bus-only hard shoulders in Scotland.
The House of Commons transport committee launched an inquiry …
