CAVForth is a collaboration between Fusion Processing Limited, Alexander Dennis, Edinburgh Napier University and the University of the West of England.
It was estimated to cost £6.1m, external, with more than two-thirds of that coming from the UK government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility Fund with other investment from bus operator Stagecoach, Transport Scotland, and industry partners.
Their driverless buses have sensors enabling them to travel on pre-selected roads at up to 50mph.
On each trip they switch between autonomous and manual driving, being controlled by computer across the Forth Road Bridge, and from the M90 and M8 to the A720 in Edinburgh.
A “safety driver” remains in the driver’s seat to monitor the technology even when the computer is controlling the bus, and a “bus captain” helps passengers with boarding, buying tickets and queries.