Autonomous buses are coming; don’t forget about the people, says Stagecoach CEO
Speaking at Coach & Bus UK about Stagecoach Manchester’s autonomous bus trials, Martin Griffiths, CEO at Stagecoach Group, says that people will always play a huge part in the future.
“Autonomous buses are coming, and they will stay. The industry needs to be ready to embrace change, but also make sure that our customers and our employees are on that journey with us,” he says.
“Although we now live in an age where everything is driven by technology, it’s still the case that the human element is really important, and we must never lose sight of that.”
Stagecoach is currently trialling an 11.5m ADL Enviro200 bus within a controlled environment at its Sharston, Manchester depot.
The single-decker is being used to carry out movements such as parking and moving into the bus wash and while they are not operating the vehicle, there is always a driver on board – something Mr Griffiths says he doesn’t see changing anytime soon.
“The interaction with drivers continues to be very important,” he says. “Having a positive human face and a strong customer-service offering remains critical to building trust with our customers.”
Next year, a second trial will begin in Scotland where a fleet of five autonomous buses, similar to the one in Manchester, will carry passengers across the Forth Road Bridge corridor between Fife and Edinburgh. They will provide 14,000 seats a week.
As well as highlighting what Stagecoach is doing, Mr Griffiths used the show to encourage the adoption of new technologies.
“We know that better technology leads to easier journeys for our customers,” he says.
“Contactless payment technology, for example, is not only transforming the way people pay for travel, but also their perception of travelling by bus.
“As an industry, we need to remind people every day to compete with the motorcar. Yes, we compete with each other and other modes of public transport, but our biggest competitor is the motorcar and we want to attract people out of cars and onto public transport.”
In a time when the industry speaks of uncertainty, Mr Griffiths closed his seminar on a positive note: “I’m really optimistic about [the industry’s] future, but the decisions we make today are going to be really important, and new technologies are only part of a story.”
