Birmingham Airport's driverless shuttles are 'the future'

Passengers at Birmingham Airport are being transported in a driverless shuttle bus as a six-week trial of the vehicle gets under way.

The new Auto Shuttle is taking people from car parks to the departures building.

"We see this as the future," said Solihull Council leader Ian Courts.

The local authority bought the vehicle from Coventry firm Aurrigo and said the trial aimed to show passengers its green credentials and safety.

Mr Courts said safety was "uppermost in our minds", adding the zero-emission vehicle was previously demonstrated at the nearby NEC and on Solihull roads in a "successful trial".

After joining passengers on a test run, he described the trip as "smooth and flawless".

He said: "It was a joy actually. This is technology tackling climate change, tackling congestion and all of those things that we are trying to work on at the moment."

Passengers and airport staff tested the vehicle, which can carry up to 10 people

Council leader Ian Courts said he hoped the trial would help address people's concerns over driverless vehicle safety

Ricky Raines, from Aurrigo, said the shuttle had a "multitude of different sensors" that detected its surroundings in different ways to build the safety system.

The council bought the vehicle with a £250,000 grant from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.

The shuttle's route at the airport was "longer and more complicated" than the one it followed in Solihull, the council said.

In line with legislation, a safety operator is on board who can take control of the vehicle if required.

Mr Raines said he believed driverless vehicles would become increasingly common.

"Over the next five years you will probably start to see small CAV [Connected Autonomous Vehicles] services pop up," he said.

"It will at first seem a bit strange and then will become the normal daily run."

A safety operator travels on board the shuttle which reaches speeds of up to 20mph during the trial