Information pertaining to Project CAVForth: EIR release

Information requested

Please provide information relating to project CAVFORTH including project delivery dates and projected passenger usage.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of
upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. We are not able to provide projected passenger usage as we do not hold any such information. This is an element of the project that is the responsibility of our partner Stagecoach Buses.

Project CAVForth aims to provide a globally significant demonstration of UK autonomous bus capability along a 14-mile route from Fife to Edinburgh. Transport Scotland is one part of a Project.

Partners Group delivering Project CAVForth. The other partners are:

• Fusion Processing (CAV Systems and Lead Partner)
• Stagecoach Buses (Public Transport Operator)
• Alexander Dennis Ltd (Bus Manufacturer)
• Bristol Robotics Laboratory (Simulations)
• Edinburgh Napier University (Passenger Research)

As a partner in Project CAVForth and the roads authority for most of the route, Transport Scotland will:

• design and implement infrastructure measures to support the scheme
• undertake liaison and relationships with local roads authorities and use the facilities of the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre at the south end of the Forth Road Bridge to monitor the trial in live time
• provide incident management response if required; and
• facilitate education, project information and the dissemination of learning relating to Project CAVForth

Transport Scotland is continuing to work with our partners to explore timescales to deliver the project. A further announcement on the trial start date, which is expected to be in 2022, will be made once dates are confirmed and that information is available.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.