This is, more or less, what you can expect to see roaming the streets of Greenwich from this summer. It's a trial of driverless car technology, based on the self-driving pods in use at Heathrow Terminal 5 which we visited a couple of years ago — watch the video below to see how they work.
Where these versions will differ from those at the airport is that there won't be any tracks to guide the pods. Instead, they'll be free to travel where they need to go. We, the general public, will be able to use them after a period of testing — and will apparently be able to call one up via a mobile app. Each pod can carry six passengers although, despite each vehicle being able to operate independently, a 'steward' will travel in each one in case something goes wrong.
The GATEway project (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) is one of four tests of driverless technology taking place in the UK. The plan is to gather more information about how the cars work — and how we react to them.
One thing's for certain: this design is a lot nicer (and more weather proof) than the golf cart concept that was knocking around a couple of years ago.
