The ‘Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle’ project is reimagining Sunderland’s transport infrastructure, redefining operations in a real-world city environment and building a replicable model that can benefit other cities the world over.

Building on the North East’s leading role in the UK’s Automated Vehicle (AV) ecosystem, this project will demonstrate the future of urban mobility, via the research, build, trial and evaluation of several autonomous zero-emission shuttles.

A trial from Jan 2025, will explore the feasibility of deploying a Level 4 autonomous teleoperated zero-emission passenger mobility service in Sunderland. This will increase connectivity between a key transport interchange and two high-volume destinations: the University of Sunderland City Campus and Sunderland Royal Hospital, via an Intelligent Transport Corridor (ITC).

Working in collaboration, the six consortium partners will demonstrate, with evidence, how the Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle – a next generation, low-carbon autonomous public transport vehicle – can integrate into the city’s public transport network. Aligned with all nine principles of the Future of Mobility Urban Strategy, it will show how frequent, reliable and low-cost autonomous transport can deliver modal shift from private cars to shared use vehicles, providing benefits to travellers, without displacing active travel options.

Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will provide huge social, industrial and economic benefits. Leveraging the power of 5G technology and Sunderland’s leading smart city infrastructure, the focus aligns to Sunderland’s ambitious City Plan and ethos of leaving no one and nowhere behind, with customer needs, convenience and experience at the heart of its strategy.