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Driverless pods: the future hits the streets for promo film

One of the LUTZ Pathfinder driverless pods was filmed making its way around the pathways of Milton Keynes.

The filming took place in the Theatre District and will form part of a promotional video the Transport Systems Catapult will be showing at the Imagine Festival, organised by the TSC to explore Intelligent Mobility and the future of transport.

The festival starts tomorroow (Friday).

The electric-powered vehicles can seat two people and are designed to work on pavements and pedestrianised areas. Three pods will be tested later this year in Milton Keynes ahead of the larger UK Autodrive driverless vehicles project of which Milton Keynes Council is also a key partner.

A fleet of 40 pods will be in operation on the city’s pavements by the end of 2017.

Milton Keynes Council leader Cllr Peter Marland said: “It was really exciting to see one of the pods in a real-life situation where we hope they will one day become an everyday feature of life in Milton Keynes.

“Passers-by were really engaged as the filming of the pod took place; expressing enthusiasm and excitement for this innovative type of transport and asking questions in order to find out more about it.

“Milton Keynes is a smart city; a hub of innovation and a place that is not afraid to trial new technology. It’s early days but even this short period of filming demonstrated how excited the public in Milton Keynes are about the future of transport in the city.”

The driverless pods project is part of the council’s wider Future City Programme which includes MK:Smart, a large collaborative initiative with BT and the Open University which is developing new technology solutions to support economic growth in Milton Keynes.

MK:Smart recently won a major international prize – the Best New Catalyst award at TM Forum Live! Nice, 2015. 


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