Project Information
Kirkwall Autolink was funded by UK Government, as part of the CAM Pathfinder Programme. CAM Pathfinder is delivered by DBT’s Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) team, in partnership with Innovate UK and Zenzic. This project assesses the feasibility of deploying autonomous shuttles in Orkney, establishing a clear pathway towards a driverless, zero-emission solution.
Objectives for this project include the following:
- Define customer, technical, and operational requirements for an autonomous shuttle.
- Evaluate route feasibility and gather stakeholder insights through surveys and workshops.
- Develop a comprehensive outline business case with clear cost-benefit analyses and a roadmap for future demonstration trials.
- Deliver a small-scale demonstrator event, showcasing autonomous vehicle technology and gathering additional stakeholder insights.
The project consortium is made up of HITRANS, Urban Foresight and Aurrigo.
Demonstrator Event
In February 2026, the Kirkwall AutoLink team hosted a two-day autonomous vehicle demonstrator event in Kirkwall, giving stakeholders and members of the public the opportunity to experience autonomous transport first-hand. Held at Crossie Crown Place on 9 and 10 February, the event featured Aurrigo’s small, zero-emission Auto-Pod and provided visitors with the chance to see the technology in operation, ask questions of the project team and take part in a supervised ride.
The event formed part of the wider Kirkwall AutoLink feasibility study, which is exploring the potential for an autonomous shuttle service connecting Kirkwall Harbour with Kirkwall Airport. The proposed service could provide a cleaner and more accessible transport option for residents, workers and visitors, while helping to reduce the current reliance on private cars. Kirkwall Airport handles more than 160,000 passengers each year, with around 90% of airport journeys currently made by private car, highlighting the potential for alternative transport options.
The demonstrator was designed not simply to showcase the technology, but to encourage discussion and gather feedback from the local community. Participants were introduced to how the Auto-Pod operates before experiencing the vehicle for themselves, giving them an opportunity to form their own views about autonomous transport in a real-world setting. Feedback gathered before and after the journeys will help the project team understand local attitudes, identify concerns and inform decisions about the design and potential future deployment of autonomous transport in Orkney.
The event also provided an important opportunity to test how autonomous technology could operate within a rural and island environment. The demonstrator helped demonstrate operational feasibility, raised awareness of autonomous mobility and, importantly, positively shifted the perceptions of most local participants after they had experienced the technology first-hand.
While the February event was a small-scale demonstration rather than a live autonomous public transport service, it represented an important step in assessing whether this technology could have a practical role in Orkney. The findings from the event, alongside the wider technical, operational and community research being undertaken through Kirkwall AutoLink, will help establish a potential pathway towards a future autonomous shuttle demonstration or service.
Watch the demonstrator event movie below.
