Chancellor commissions new study on connected and automated vehicles: Terms of Reference
Published 12 February 2024
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The government asks the National Infrastructure Commission to provide recommendations to government on the infrastructure policy interventions needed to ensure connected and self-driving technologies can support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK, improve competitiveness and quality of life, and support climate resilience and the transition to net zero carbon emissions.
In August 2022, the UK Government set out that by 2025 the UK will begin to see deployments of self-driving vehicles, improving the way in which people and goods are moved around the nation and creating an early commercial market for the technologies [footnote 1]. Through the measures proposed in the Automated Vehicles Bill, the government aims to ensure this market will be enabled by a comprehensive regulatory, legislative and safety framework
Across transport, technology is revolutionising how people and goods move around the country. Automation and connectivity are central to this and present significant opportunities for delivering improvements to road safety, reducing congestion, improving reliability and accessibility of transport services, and increasing productivity. The way we plan, operate and maintain our infrastructure is crucial to realising these benefits. Uncertainty is inherent in any emerging technology. However, uncertainty should not be a reason to do nothing, as to do so may result in missed opportunities to realise strategic objectives. Moreover, many of the actions taken to support self-driving vehicles will have benefits for many existing vehicles, which may further support the case for action.
The focus of the study should therefore be to consider the incremental steps and interventions that may be required on the road network to pursue a pathway towards more wide-spread adoption and the desired benefits. This would form the basis of an adaptive strategy, exploring what additional policy and infrastructure requirements may be needed beyond the initial regulatory, safety and legislative framework already being developed by government to achieve its 2025 vision for connected and automated mobility (CAM). In making its recommendations the government asks the Commission to consider:
- The additional policy, governance and infrastructure that may be needed to realise a range of benefits, reflecting the uncertainty about technological development. Both physical and digital infrastructure (including data) should be considered, alongside network management, operations and how policies and recommendations could be implemented.
- The potential use for private cars, taxis and private hire vehicles as the primary focus, but use cases and infrastructure needs associated with public transport and freight and logistics should also be included. The study should also differentiate between road types and urban, interurban and rural contexts as appropriate.
- The costs, benefits, any associated risks and dependencies of different infrastructure requirements including where these and to whom the costs may fall, and benefits accrue. In doing so the Commission should be mindful of their objectives as well as the potential implications for national security, equality, diversity and inclusion within the transport system.
- Benefits to conventionally driven or unconnected vehicles as well as those that are connected and self-driving; and benefits that can be realised in the near-term as well as when new technologies are widely deployed.
- Sequencing and prioritisation of interventions, and the extent to which they are robust to uncertainty.
The Commission’s remit extends to economic infrastructure within the UK government’s competence and the study should be undertaken in line with this.
In carrying out the work the Commission will not re-consider the legislative, legal and regulatory requirements for the adoption of CAM already established by government, nor how changes affecting vehicle production or service provision fit into the UK’s industrial strategy. The Commission will acknowledge any technical challenges facing CAM technologies, but it is not the role of this study to consider how to resolve them except insofar as it is relevant to its infrastructure remit.
Any recommendations made must consider the need to achieve the country’s net zero target by 2050 and be consistent with the fiscal and economic remits provided to the National Infrastructure Commission.
The Commission should work with other government bodies, such as Centre for Connected and Automated Vehicles, the Department for Transport and National Highways and engage extensively with stakeholders through the study. The Commission should work with these partners to ensure that its findings can inform the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3).
The study should provide a final report in around twelve months and an interim report in summer of 2024.