Self-driving car could end traffic light need, says firm involved in trial

The two cars, built by Japanese manufacturer Nissan, have completed hundreds of laps around a 2.7-mile (4.3km) route featuring busy A-roads in south-east London during the past two years.

SMLL was responsible for installing about 270 cameras along the route, which relayed information to the cars about potential issues ahead, such as buses stopped in the left lane.

The trial was part of a ServCity project, thought to be the country’s first trial of driverless technology involving the use of infrastructure on the roadside as well as the vehicles’ own systems.

ServCity is a £10.7m consortium project involving Nissan, Hitachi, Connected Places Catapult, the University of Nottingham, TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) and SBD Automotive.

Robert Bateman, who manages ServCity for Nissan, said there had been significant differences in London’s trials compared with those in the US and Japan.