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UK Town To Get Driverless 'Pods' Mixing With Pedestrians

Posted by Soulskill on from the when-do-we-get-autonomous-segways dept.

Bruce66423 writes "Milton Keynes is the most successful new town in the U.K., being built on a green field site from the '60s onward. Initially famous for concrete cows, it is the home of the Open University, which offers college-level courses at home. Now, the U.K. Business Secretary has announced plans to have small driverless cars shuttle people around parts of the town starting in 2015. There will be about 20 of the pod-like vehicles to start, each capable of holding two people. They will have their own pathways and move at about 12mph. The plan is to continue developing and testing the vehicles, and by 2017, 100 of them will share walkways with pedestrians."

20 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Awesome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    These are for two people though.

  2. Just be done with it. by retech · · Score: 3, Funny

    With the chronic obesity issues modern societies face, you may as well just put large scoops on the front of these to make it easier to pick up and drop off their human cargo.

    1. Re:Just be done with it. by Tx · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to the chart on this page (direct link to chart), we (UK) are in third place behind the USA and Mexico. It is a big jump up to US levels though, but we're working on it.

      --
      Oh no... it's the future.
  3. Really? by ledow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For the benefit of non-UK residents:

    Milton Keynes is the butt of every joke going.

    You could put free money in it, and people would still drive around it to avoid it.

    1. Re:Really? by Manic+Miner · · Score: 5, Informative

      While that's a fair comment - it is the butt of jokes. However it is usually from people who've never actually lived there, and those who are such bad drivers they can't cope with a roundabout ;) It's build on a grid system, so would be familiar to US readers, only instead of traffic light intersections it has roundabouts. What this means in practice is that using the major roads it's possible to get everywhere quickly and easily, even in rush hour you don't get caught for too long. Because these grid roads are also isolated from the housing areas, usually by banks or trees the road noise is not too bad either, and it has lots of parks open space and water. Yes it's a bit soulless but practically it's very well thought out.

      --
      If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let'em go, because, man, they're gone.
    2. Re:Really? by andyjb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...stealing a great line from Terry Pratchett: Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.

    3. Re:Really? by noh8rz10 · · Score: 2

      sex

    4. Re:Really? by nukenerd · · Score: 2

      While that's a fair comment - it is the butt of jokes. However it is usually from people who've never actually lived there, and those who are such bad drivers they can't cope with a roundabout ;)

      You don't need to live there to encounter the roundabouts, and you do not have to be a bad driver to dislike them. The first time I drove my son to uni my route (A421) took me through that area. Every roundabout caused a luggage avalanche, and they were every few hundred yards for no apparent good reason. Perhaps they came into their own in the rush hour, but this wasn't. Found a different route next time.

      The place looked so dreary that I asked my son (who was map-reading) where the heart of the city was. He said he believed it didn't have one - which sums up all I have heard about it.

  4. The reason this will fail isn't the technology by Rande · · Score: 2

    It's that unsupervised, these things and things like it will be vandalized, stolen, and used as public toilets.

    1. Re:The reason this will fail isn't the technology by Xest · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You could say the same about Boris bikes in London but I don't think that's really been the case to date, though I haven't followed their story closely so maybe I'm wrong.

  5. Milton Keynes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Milton Keynes is an awful, car-dominated dystopia

    It's like what someone living in the 1970s thought a nice new town would be like

  6. Good Omens by burning_plastic · · Score: 2

    "Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing." -- T. Pratchett and N. Gaiman, Good Omens

    We used to go bowling there when I was little as it was the only place within an hour's drive with a bowling alley... I mostly remember parts being very empty and then almost never-ending lines of roundabouts (although at least they were in straight lines unlike Swindon)...

  7. Bike & bikepaths anyone? by captainpanic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Netherlands has built a dedicated infrastructure for vehicles moving at around 12 mph on average, for one or two people. They are bike lanes, and it totally rules. The Netherlands has by far the highest percentage of cyclists, and a very low number of accidents.

    So, I applaud the initiative to build some pathways where cars are banned, but I hope that these people do themselves a favor and allow cyclists to use these paths too. At least with a bike you don't have to wait for some pod to pass by, because it is already parked in front of the door. And in case of a hurry, you can just bike a bit faster.

    Special pathways without cars: good idea.
    Slow small expensive pods: probably a useless idea.

  8. From rail station to shopping centre...(and back?) by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Initially the driverless cars will ferry passengers from the town's rail station to its shopping centre just over a mile away – currently a 20-minute uphill walk.

    Both ways?

  9. Alternatively by rossdee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You could get safer road with (I)Pod-less drivers (And iPadless and iPhoneless too of course)

    Milton Keynes ? Wasn't he an economist?
    and maybe a poet...

  10. concrete cows by noh8rz10 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    For those of you who don't know, the concrete cows of milton keynes. How could the summary not include this link?

  11. 2 passengers? Should be 3. by rreay · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Pod systems like this should always carry three passengers. If you are traveling with a group, 2 passenger pods can force part of your group to ride alone. Carrying 3 lets people ride with the group for groups any size.

  12. War on Pedestrians? by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 2

    Let's put motorized carriages on the walk ways to harass, annoy and run over those on foot.
    Don't like it? Get in a pod or get in a car or take the bus.

    Even here in America we aren't as hostile to pedestrians.

  13. Re:2 passengers? Should be 3. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Woosh indeed.

    7 MOD 3 assumes you are going to pack each pod to capacity and then shove the remainder in the extra car.

    What GP is suggesting is that since 7 / 3 requires 3 cars anyway, people will arrange into a 3/2/2 configuration instead of 3/3/1.

  14. Re:Cover your nose. by newcastlejon · · Score: 2

    They shall soon acquire the scent of urine and vomit.

    Yes, when the doors open. This is Milton Keynes we're talking about after all.

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.