Posted on the 22nd June 2026 in PHTM News

PLANNERS HAVE THREE YEARS TO SHAPE DRIVERLESS TRANSPORT OR MARKETS WILL MAKE DECISIONS FOR THEM

Driverless taxis are due to start carrying passengers in London this year, and a new report argues that the way planners respond over the next three years will shape Britain’s towns long after the technology stops being a novelty.

It was written by the Institute for Driverless Transport (IfDT), an independent research body, and published by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the professional body for around 27,000 planners across the UK.

This year’s robotaxi launch will put the UK among the world’s most competitive driverless-vehicle markets, behind only the US, China and the United Arab Emirates.

Three firms plan to run robotaxis in London, as early as September, with Waymo already testing more than 100 cars there. Driverless delivery robots are working in Barnsley, and 68 self-driving trucks now run at the Port of Felixstowe.

IfDT focuses on the under-considered consequences of autonomous vehicles. Counterintuitively, a driverless vehicle is not automatically an efficient one. In Waymo’s California operations, more than four in ten robotaxi miles carry no passenger. An empty car still takes up road space, and the Institute points to the kerbside as the first pressure point, where pick-ups, drop-offs and deliveries will compete for the same few metres.

As car ownership falls, the need for parking could fall with it, freeing land now given to car parks for new homes, green space and town centre regeneration, especially where land is most valuable. Shared services can also open up travel for people who cannot drive, and McKinsey estimates the cost per mile may drop below both car ownership and existing public transport. Badly managed, the same vehicles add miles and congestion.

The Institute is clear that driverless services should complement walking, wheeling and public transport, not crowd them out. It argues that planners already hold the tools to steer the rollout in the public benefit: local plans, site allocations, planning conditions, developer agreements and pre-application engagement.

None of which needs new legislation. Authorities that move early can shape what gets built around driverless transport; those that wait will find the choices made for them.

The Institute for Driverless Transport is an independent UK research and convening body focused on the consequences of autonomous vehicles. It has no commercial interest in any particular technology, operator, or outcome.


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