Northern Ireland’s first autonomous passenger vehicle is to begin operation in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter in a few months time.
The Harlander, which has been developed by HORIBA MIRA for Belfast Harbour, is a self-driving vehicle that will operate a shuttle service in the Harbour Estate from the Titanic Railway Station to Catalyst through the Titanic Quarter.
The nine-seater vehicle, which will have a safety operator on board, is aimed at offering the last mile connectivity from public transport networks to businesses, tourist attractions and education and leisure facilities.
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An initial pilot on the scheme will run from March to September this year and will be completely free of charge.
Mike Dawson, People and Digital Transformation Director at Belfast Harbour, said: “We’re incredibly excited to have visited HORIBA MIRA’s Connected and Autonomous Vehicle testing facility near Coventry to see the Harlander in action and we’re looking forward to people getting the chance to experience the service for themselves in the coming months as we start the pilot on the Harbour Estate.”
Mike Dawson and Chris Reeve with the Harlander which is due to become operational later this year
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.
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