Trumpington to Cambridge Autonomous Busway Service (T-CABS)

A 15-seat bus without a driver will carry fare-paying passengers along a segregated busway in Cambridge within two years. This matters because autonomous vehicles on open roads remain years away. The Cambridge Guided Busway is physically separated from cars, cyclists, and pedestrians, making it a rare environment where a Level 5 autonomous vehicle—one requiring no human intervention—can operate safely now. The route serves Trumpington Park and Ride, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, and Cambridge Central Railway Station, but running conventional buses with drivers on this section is too expensive for out-of-hours service. The project fills the gap between what autonomous technology can do and what existing public transport economics will support. If successful, T-CABS will demonstrate a real, revenue-generating autonomous transport service on existing infrastructure. RDM Group will build the vehicle; Cambridgeshire County Council will design the business model and service levels. The impact could be a replicable template for other guided busways or segregated transit corridors, offering lower-cost, round-the-clock public transport without requiring new roads or full autonomy on open highways.