SOL - Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV)

Tender description

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) is delivering the Low Carbon Future Mobility (LCFM) project within the UK Central Infrastructure Programme. The project is assessing a breadth of new solutions to delivering low / zero carbon active and mass transport solutions. Working closely with Borough and regional stakeholders there is an identified desire to learn how Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) technology may in the future be incorporated into both the Council's and private company's operations, as a way of providing an increased number of mass transport options to the public, addressing the over-reliance on privately-owned single-occupancy motor vehicles. Current trends indicate that if car sales continue along existing trajectories then moving in and around the Borough will become increasingly problematic at key pinch-points, so pathfinding interventions must be accelerated. To support this ambition SMBC is seeking to procure one proven mass-people-moving connected autonomous vehicle (CAV), and associated supplier support, for use across the Borough and potentially wider West Midlands region over a period of a minimum of two years from April 2021. The vehicle will be loaned out to key regional stakeholders to deliver defined use case applications with the ambition of increasing regional understanding and awareness of the technology, helping the authority apply learning to future highways, residential, commercial and transport interchange infrastructure development. The project is not a technology development / feasibility study, rather a use case application demonstrator. Lot 1: SMBC wish to purchase one Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) capable of being driven both manually, i.e. by traditional steering wheel and foot pedals, and autonomously. The vehicle must be suitable for operation on the public highway, so as to maximise potential future application. The vehicle must be able to carry ten or more persons, including the safety driver, simultaneously so as to fit the core project outcome of contributing to the demonstration of autonomy in mass people and / or goods movement. Alongside the purchase of the vehicle, appropriate levels of on-going project delivery support must be provided so as to maximise delivery of the intended use. Both the vehicle and the supplier must possess and be able to demonstrate a proven track record in the movement of people by fully autonomous means, as the intended use is for multiple use case application across varying locations, not technology development. The project delivery period is for a minimum of two years from contract start in April 2021. The vehicle will be loaned out to key regional stakeholders to deliver defined use case applications with the ambition of increasing regional understanding and awareness of the technology, helping the authority apply learning to future highways, residential, commercial and transport interchange infrastructure development.