Demand Responsive Flows

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In the future, demand-responsive autonomous vehicles like Local Motors’ Olli (pictured) could cover the ‘last mile’ which separates many people from mainstream bus services. They could feed into those main bus routes, allowing operators to run more efficient express services which don’t need to wind around small villages which would otherwise be missed

This month I had the opportunity to speak to Rafael Cuesta from Transport for Greater Manchester, who was involved in the production of a UITP report on autonomous vehicles. We carried the report as a lead story on CBW’s news pages, and reading through it, I was particularly drawn by how the organisation saw autonomous vehicles being used – as a feeder for existing public transport services.

It painted a picture of a future transport utopia, where a highly integrated and connected network could make public transport hugely competitive with private vehicles, to the point that many individuals would leave them behind. These autonomous vehicles would likely all be the size of minibuses. It’s a real opportunity for small vehicles operators that should be considered before […]

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