In a project jointly funded by the British Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Transport, self-driving cars will make their appearance in the UK starting in January 2015. The upcoming government-funded tests will mark the first time self-driving cars will be permitted on public roads. The testing periods are scheduled to last between 18 and 36 months.

Any British cities interested in becoming test areas have until Oct. 1, 2014, to declare a bid. Out of the applicant pool, only three cities will be chosen. The selected cities will receive a £10 million stipend (about $17 million) to be divided equally. While several engineering groups, including one from the University of Oxford, have been experimenting with self-driving technology on private roads, it is not yet apparent which companies or automakers will produce the self-driving cars for the public tests. All of these details will need to be set before the end of the year.

“Driverless cars have huge potential to transform the UK’s transport network — they could improve safety, reduce congestion and lower emissions, particularly CO2,” transport minister Claire Perry said in a statement. “We are determined to ensure driverless cars can fulfill this potential, which is why we are actively reviewing regulatory obstacles to create the right framework for trialling these vehicles on British roads.”

In the United States, California, Nevada and Florida are all approved testing sites for self-driving cars. Perhaps most notably, Google’s self-driving cars have been seen on the streets of Mountain View, California, home of Google’s headquarters. Toyota has also jumped aboard with its own spin on the self-driving car.