Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been announced as part of a consortium of world leading companies that has been awarded government funding to further the development of driverless technologies. Following the hugely successful trial of a self-driving shuttle bus over the summer, the Park is now set to provide a real-world test environment for the future development of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Working with experts from across the transport and technology sectors, including TRL, DG Cities, Cisco, Costain, Cubic, Loughborough University and Transport for London and delivery partners Milbrook Proving Ground and the University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre, the Park ,as part of the consortium, has been awarded a share of the governments £51million Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) test bed funding to create a coordinated national platform of CAV testing infrastructure. 

The ambitious project will see the creation of a Smart Mobility Living Lab:London at the Park and also in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This Living Lab will provide a real-world urban test bed in a complex public environment, capable of demonstrating and evaluating the use, performance and benefits of CAV technology. 

The Living Lab will be designed to operate as an open innovation environment where innovators in the automotive sector, transport service and technology providers, SMEs, local and central government and research bodies, can come together to exchange ideas and develop technical and business solutions for the future.

Jennifer Daothong, Head of Strategy and Sustainability at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, said: “Working in partnership with London’s clean-tech industry, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is rapidly becoming a world-leader at trialling new and innovative approaches to our future transport needs. We are delighted to be working with world-leading companies to provide the first of many opportunities for Londoners to experience this ground breaking technology for themselves.” 

As a centre of innovation and sustainability, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is an ideal location to trial new approaches to advanced mobility. The Park has rapidly been established as an area of innovation and collaboration where world leading accessibility and sustainability standards have been embedded in the design and operation of the Park. Through its recognition as a Smart, Sustainable District the ambition of the Park is to demonstrate that it is possible to use technology and integrated approaches to innovate and support the operation of resource efficient, low carbon, connected and future-ready places.