Across the UK, bus operators and local authorities face increasing challenges in maintaining economically viable services particularly in rural areas and during off-peak hours. At the same time, driver recruitment, training and rising operating costs are placing additional pressure on the network. The Cambridge Connector project deployed a fleet of automated buses in Cambridge to assess how automation could form part of an integrated future transport system. This included technical performance, safety validation, passenger acceptance, and commercial viability. 

Acceptability and trust are critical to the success of any service. To achieve this Connector's research programme aimed to understand how automation could be used to better design future public transport services.

Anthrometric led the inclusive human factors research for the project, working with 48 participants with a wide range of impairments, access needs and lived experiences of public transport. Using immersive 360° VR, focus groups, sensory walkalongs and a stakeholder workshop, we explored the whole end-to-end self-driving bus journey. This includes preparing for the journey, finding the stop, boarding, getting information, asking for help, feeling safe, maybe even dealing with disruption and getting off at your stop. 

This workpackage has uncovered the nuanced experiences and expectations that diverse users have in relation to automated mobility.  The findings have been taken directly back into the Connector programme with the Greater Cambridge Partnership, Alexander Dennis, Fusion Processing and Whippet, helping to shape the next iteration of the vehicle and the service around it. 

The human factors work is influencing how support is provided, how information is communicated, how boarding is managed and how the absence of a driver is accounted for in the wider service design. It is exploring how trust is built and maintained, and how a succesfful service is designed and deployed.