An Autonomous Future for Transport

Yesterday was a landmark day for the logistics sector, all over the United Kingdom, as the UK Government's £40m innovation fund was unveiled. The funding is set to kick-start self-driving services in the commercial sector, such as delivery vehicles and passenger shuttles, which the Government aims to help bring together companies and investors so that sustainable business models to be rolled out nationally and exported globally.

The ‘Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility’ competition will provide grants to help roll out commercial use of self-driving vehicles across the UK from 2025. Announced by Lord Grimstone, Minister for Investment, the initiative aims to accelerate a new market for self-driving technology.

The competition aims to unlock a new industry that could be worth £42bn to the UK economy by 2035, potentially creating 38,000 new skilled jobs.

Minister for investment Lord Grimstone said: “Self-driving vehicles have the potential to revolutionise people’s lives, whether it’s by helping to better connect people who rely on public transport with jobs, local shops, and vital services, or by making it easier for those who have mobility issues to order and access services conveniently.

“This funding will help unlock the incredible potential of this new and growing industry, building on the continued development of self-driving technology, attracting investment, and helping make our transport cleaner, safer, and more efficient."

What does this mean for Transport 29? Well, it's an exciting technology that we welcome to add further safety and efficiency to an industry that is constantly striving to make the roads a safer & cleaner place to be; while we won't be investing in self-driving vans as a small business yet, it's not implausible that one day we may have our own fleet of autonomous trucks.

Transport minister Trudy Harrison said: “We know that self-driving vehicles have the potential to revolutionise the way we travel, making our future journeys cleaner, easier, and more reliable. But our absolute priority is harnessing the technology to improve road safety.

“With around 88% of road collisions currently caused by human error, this funding will drive the introduction of new technology to improve travel for all, while boosting economic growth and highly skilled jobs across the nation.”