The vast majority (78%) of the British public support driverless vehicles but they must be safe and resistant to cyber attack.

The Gateway Project gave the public the chance to trial autonomous shuttle vehicles.

That’s some of the summary findings from the three-year Gateway Project research programme, which invited the public to test prototype vehicles and services.

The programme saw more than 5,000 people signed up to participate in self-driving shuttle service trials in Greenwich, with a total of 1,300 members of the public interviewed.

Research conducted by the University of Greenwich found that 43%, from a sample size of 925, felt positive towards the concept of driverless vehicles. A total of 46% were undecided, citing key concerns about cyber security (44%), road safety (51%), other (5%). Only 11% of participants felt negatively towards these future forms of transport. The research also found people living or working in urban areas are happy to share transport for last mile journeys to and from transport hubs and that private car ownership was of lesser importance than ease of mobility.

The Gateway Project paves the way for the £19m Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) project. Based in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and nearby Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, this will enable transport manufacturers and operators to develop new mobility solutions and test them in a wide variety of city environments.