What are the infrastructure implications of driverless vehicles?

As we approach the reality of widespread implementation of the autonomous vehicle, we are facing the most significant and fundamental change in transport since the 18th Century when the steam engine was invented.

With this reality also must come major changes in the infrastructure that will support these vehicles, and that also supports current modes of transport our cities rely on so heavily.

What are the infrastructure implications of driverless vehicles? What will the passenger experience be? What will we see on our streets? How will new infrastructure merge with existing? Looking more broadly what will the implications be for our cities and the people within them? There are both opportunities and major challenges with regard to urban infrastructure and we need to understand system effects and also transition trajectories - not binary.

I am excited to be delving into these issues in more depth at the upcoming Future Vehicles 2016 conference (31st May – 1st June), joining some key industry experts from a wide range of groups and organisations.

The Future Vehicles 2016 conference has been specifically designed to assess the rate at which autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles may be adopted, the policy settings needed and the broader implications of this fundamental shift.