Driverless bus vandalised at UHI Inverness campus
A driverless bus that hit the road earlier this month as part of a pilot project in the Scottish Highlands was damaged by vandals at the weekend.
The 10-seater Aurrigo Auto-Shuttle was targeted during the early hours of Saturday morning at the University of the Highlands and Islands' (UHI) Inverness campus.
The incident, which took place in a fenced-off area within the reception car park, has been reported to Police Scotland.
Ricky Raines, operations manager at Aurrigo, said the damage was "superficial".
Following recalibration, the vehicle has since returned to service as part of a trial which is aiming to improve transport connections in the region.
As well as offering transportation around the university campus, the auto-shuttle has been launched alongside a four-seater Aurrigo Auto-Pod to reduce passenger times between Inverness Airport and the nearby railway station.
Currently, passengers have to walk the whole 1.2km route between the terminal and train station or take the shuttle bus, for which there is a charge without the Go-Hi app.
During the trial, the auto-pod will cover about 750m of the journey.
The pilot is scheduled to run until 30 August.
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Project partners include Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS), which recently relaunched an electric bike scheme in Inverness that had been suspended in June due to widespread misuse, vandalism and theft.
HITRANS said just six bikes were left usable, with the estimated damage around £100,000.
Additional security measures have since been put in place, including at the docking stations to prevent the bikes from being forcibly removed and smaller baskets to deter joyriding.
