To help with the project, TRL has recruited a handful of experts. These include Westfield Sportscars, a West Midlands company that builds classic automobiles. TRL says it was will act as an "integrator and manufacturer," designing and testing the vehicles to ensure they meet road safety standards. Joining them are Oxbotica, a research-based team that was spun out of Oxford University's Mobile Robotics Group. In short, they'll be working on the autonomous bits -- the software and hardware that deals with mapping, localisation and perception. Finally there's Heathrow Enterprises, the company that operates the UK's busiest airport and has plenty of first-hand experience with the dome-shaped pods.

The current batch of Ultra Pods have a top speed of 40kph (roughly 25mph) and can carry up to six passengers at once. They're not the sleekest or most exciting vehicles to look at, but presumably they get the job done at Heathrow and have shown potential as a fully-fledged mode of public transportation. TRL's expanded consortium is aiming to start the Greenwich trial this summer, before moving on to additional experiments related to autonomous valet parking and automated deliveries.