A £134,984 grant has been awarded to investigate whether a self-driving bus route between Watford and St Albans is feasible.

Last week, the Government announced £1.3 million in funding for six projects to explore how self-driving vehicles could improve local transport.

Two of these are in Hertfordshire, including the Integrated Mixed Traffic Mobility for Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit.

The Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit is an, as yet still loosely defined, scheme to reduce congestion and create a better east to west transport corridor in Hertfordshire, also including a stretch from Watford to St Albans.

From the start, it was made clear that the project would take years to develop and CGIs of futuristic-looking zero-emissions vehicles were released.

Now, the six-figure grant “extends a study examining the feasibility of Dedicated Driverless Spaces for articulated buses running on segregated routes and public roads of the Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit network”, the Government’s description states.

Specifically it is for a route linking Watford and St Albans’ town centres.

The other Hertfordshire project to receive part of the funding is HertsLynx Connected and Automated Mobility On-Demand.

It would study a possible route from Maylands Business Park, in Hemel Hempstead, to Harpenden and St Albans and was awarded £115,748.