The next generation of self-driving vehicles will soon hit the road in Scotland.
The country has announced plans to put self-driving buses into service starting on May 15th.
The project, named CAVForth, will be the first registered bus service in the UK to use full-sized autonomous buses.
The five buses will be used to transport passengers from Fife to the Edinburgh Park Train Interchange in East Scotland, a 14-mile journey that includes the iconic Forth Road Bridge, officials say. About 10,000 people are expected to take the buses to make the trip every week.
Despite being driverless, each bus will be manned by two transportation employees –- a "Safety Driver" in the driver's seat to monitor the technology, and a "Captain" to take tickets and answer customers questions.
Driver training is well underway, with 20 staff members completing training in preparation for its launch.
"This is an exciting milestone for this innovative and ambitious project," Transport Minister Kevin Stewart said in a statement. "Our trunk road network can provide a wide range of environments as a diverse testing ground, and the ground-breaking and globally significant Project CAVForth will really help Scotland establish its credentials on the world stage."
The launch of CAVForth follows the successful completion of an extensive testing program and registration of the bus service by Stagecoach, the UK's largest bus and coach operator.
The fleet includes five Alexander Dennis Enviro200AV vehicles.
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