At Inverness Airport, Scotland, passengers will get the opportunity to ride in Aurrigo’s autonomous Auto-Pod from the rail station to the airport terminal. The pilot will run through August 30th and will see two types of automated people movers trialed, the smaller Auto-Pod and larger Auto-Shuttle at the Inverness Airport and the University of the Highlands and Islands Inverness Campus.
Graeme Bell, General Manager for Inverness Airport said, “We are delighted to act as one of the testing grounds for the autonomous vehicle which is being used to explore the potential of a vehicle connection for passengers travelling between the railway station and the terminal building.”
The distance from the railway station to the terminal is 1.2km, and the Auto-Pod will be covering about 750m of the journey. Currently, the alternative for passengers is to walk the whole route or take the shuttle bus for which there is a charge unless you have the Go-Hi app.
This trial is to gauge public perception surrounding autonomous vehicles and will assess the feasibility of introducing an on-demand, low-cost connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) service to the region. By leveraging autonomous vehicle technology, the project aims to enhance accessibility, reduce passenger travel times, and significantly decrease CO2 emissions, contributing to Scotland’s NetZero goals.
