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Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
Get you up to speed: Driverless ‘pods’ could soon be used on Hammersmith Bridge instead of cars | News UK
Hammersmith Bridge in west London has been closed to motor vehicles since 2019 due to structural issues, with officials stating that it requires extensive repairs. The Barnes and Hammersmith Electric Light Transit (BHELT) proposes to implement driverless electric pods as a transport solution between Hammersmith and Barnes, although these pods currently require safety drivers for testing.
Hammersmith Bridge, closed to motor vehicles since 2019 due to structural issues, may require extensive repairs, potentially leading to the construction of a new bridge. The Barnes and Hammersmith Electric Light Transit (BHELT) is testing the Ohmio AV Shuttle pods, which use AI and LiDAR technology, aiming for a route from Hammersmith to Barnes, although legal restrictions currently necessitate safety drivers.
Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that it has “no plans to roll out the pods” or introduce driverless buses elsewhere on its network. Meanwhile, the Barnes and Hammersmith Electric Light Transit (BHELT) is proceeding with testing of the Ohmio AV Shuttle, with initial operations planned from Hammersmith to Barnes station pending legal and regulatory approvals.
What remains unclear — It is not specified when or if the driverless pods will be legally allowed to operate without a safety driver.
Driverless pods proposed as alternative transport on Hammersmith Bridge
You could soon be getting to work or home on a ‘driverless pod’, if a non-profit gets its way.
Hammersmith Bridge in west London has been closed to motor vehicles – including buses – since structural cracks were spotted in 2019.
And the bridge may stay shut to cars and lorries for quite some time, if recent reports from the council are to be believed.
Officials say that the 138-year-old landmark linking Hammersmith and Barnes needs so much work, it would ‘essentially require’ a new bridge.
But Barnes and Hammersmith Electric Light Transit (BHELT) has a solution – ‘lightweight autonomous electric pods’ shaped like cardboard boxes.
‘The pods are like small trams that run on “virtual tracks”, fixed routes that the onboard AI is trained on, initially with human assistance,’ the community group’s chair, Charles Campion, tells WTX.
What are the pods?
The pods, called the Ohmio AV Shuttle, would be a public transport service.
They don’t have steering wheels or a footbrake and, at most, weigh less than three tonnes, making them light enough to cross the bridge.
Up to 14 people can board the tiny buses – eight seated and six standing – which can race through the city at a whopping 15mph.
There is also space for a wheelchair, which can be brought in by a ramp beneath the pod’s doors.
By using sensors, the driverless vehicle can ‘see’ what’s around it, such as swerving around roadworks or braking when someone crosses the road.
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‘They are similar to driverless taxis in that they use a LiDAR technology which sends out and receives back laser pulses to an onboard computer to navigate safely,’ Campion says.
‘They will brake for pedestrians or other vehicles and can manoeuvre around unexpected obstacles without human guidance.’
This same programme would stop more than one pod trundling onto the creaky bridge at the same time, or when they’re too heavy.
‘Relatively low speeds will help to keep the stresses on the fragile structure manageable,’ Campion adds.
What do you think about introducing driverless ‘pods’ for Hammersmith Bridge?
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It’s a great idea and should be implemented.
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It seems promising but needs more testing.
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I’m skeptical about its practicality.
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I don’t think it’s a viable solution.
Where would the pods go?
The vehicles can’t hit the road yet as they legally need a driver, so, for now, safety drivers have been taking them for a spin using a joystick.
They carried out test drives earlier this month from Barnes to Castelnau to teach the pod’s AI-powered maps to know the route, Campion says.
He suggested the pods could run from Hammersmith transport interchange to the Barnes side of the bridge and to Barnes railway station.
On Instagram, BHELT has asked users to name the pods, suggesting ‘Podri’ in honour of the Spanish football player, Pedro González López.
The shuttle buses were inspired by proposals made by the climate charity Possible in 2023 on the best way to restore Hammersmith Bridge.
For Campion, the future of the crossing must be a ‘green’ one, with the pod service complementing local bus and railway networks.
‘Unnecessary car travel is choking the city and the people who live in it,’Campion adds, ‘and bringing cars back over Hammersmith Bridge, even if it was affordable, would have made that problem worse.’
Transport for London (TfL), which manages the city’s roads, has no plans to roll out the pods, the transport authority told WTX.
It added: ‘TfL has… no plans to introduce driverless buses elsewhere on the network.’
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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