NI's first self-driving shuttle bus takes to the roads

Northern Ireland's first ever self-driving shuttle bus is now taking passengers.

The 8-seater "Harlander" loops a route through Belfast's Titanic Quarter; an area popular with tourists.

While there's no driver, there is a safety operator on board.

The shuttle will run every 20 minutes between Titanic Halt Railway Station and Catalyst.

Now open to the public as a free of charge service, the pilot project will run until September and is an initial step to fully driverless transport systems in the UK.

Mike Dawson, People and Digital Transformation Director at Belfast Harbour, said, “Following 8 weeks of testing, we are delighted to launch the Harlander to the public to offer last mile connectivity on the Harbour Estate. This is a groundbreaking project for Northern Ireland and is a step towards fully driverless transport. Belfast Harbour has a strong track record of supporting innovation and this project supports our Smart Port ambitions, utilising cutting-edge technology to support our tenants and the public. We’re excited to see the public reaction and utilisation of the service.”

Belfast Harbour is leading the development of the service alongside a consortium of partners that includes eVersum, Oxa, Angoka, BT and HORIBA MIRA and it is Northern Irelands inaugural step in autonomous vehicles on publicly accessible roads.

The initiative has received £11m joint government and industry funding, including £5.5m in funding from Innovate UK, which is working with the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles to invest £41.5m in innovation projects across the UK that demonstrate real world benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles.