Driverless taxis to come to Heathrow

Futuristic driverless taxis are set to whisk passengers from car parks at Heathrow Airport to the terminal buildings.

The pods, which will begin a trial from next year, will take up to four passengers and their luggage to the main terminals along a concrete track, guided by special sensors.

Although they will only travel at around 25 miles per hour, it is hoped that they will greatly reduce transit times as there will always be one waiting and passengers will no longer have to wait for a bus.

Passengers will be able to press a button to choose their destination on a screen beside the pods, and then climb in.

Martin Lowson, founder of developer Advanced Transport Systems (ATS), said: "People may arrive at Heathrow in style in their BMWs and Mercedes, but then they have to hoik their luggage out of the boot and clamber on to a bus.

"Hopefully their journey will now be better. The transport will be waiting for you rather than you waiting for the transport."

The first stage of the trial will cost around £30 million but a further £200 million could eventually be spent to provide hundreds of the sci-fi pods. ATS' eventual vision is to provide "an effective and sustainable transport system".

Driverless buses that used magnetism to propel them along a track were featured at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan.

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