Autonomous transport systems continue to be the exception, rather than the rule

He talked to the theme 'can we ever get autonomous transport systems off the track and on to the road?'. Autonomous transport systems, he pointed out, aren't new. Many of us will have experienced them, whether we know it or not. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London is one example, and there are driverless transit systems at Gatwick and Stansted airports, as well as the 'pod' system which takes people from Terminal 5's business car park to the main building. These systems are reliable, he pointed out, saying that 99.35% of DLR journeys were on time in February 2014. But they remain the exception, despite their advances. Why is that? There are a number of answers, ranging from vested interests to customer expectations. But here's an interesting thing; trains on the London Underground's Victoria line have been driverless since 1968; the person in the cab at the front of the train opens and closes the doors. London Underground is now looking to upgrade its Piccadilly line to driverless trains – but these trains won't have a driver's cab and there is resistance to the move. "When we are struggling to get autonomous systems into controlled environments such as London Underground," Bates asked, "what chance is there for the roads?" 'Not a lot' was his conclusion. He left the audience with an interesting thought. "There's a growing temptation for Government to influence driving behaviour and there's no reason why every vehicle couldn't be fitted with technology that would, for example, reduce your speed to 20mph where appropriate." It would be interesting to see the reaction of drivers to the first political party to include that ambition in its manifesto.