Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: The Challenges Facing Cities and Regions

The past decade has seen substantial progress towards the development of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs). Accompanying the technological developments there has been much dialogue around the potential for CAVs to help solve a range of economic, social, and environmental issues. Such benefits being gained through, for example, greater efficiencies on the road network, increased capacities, improved safety through removing human error, and enhanced inclusivity. However, there remains much uncertainty and some scepticism as to the eventual role of CAVs.

This book views developments around CAVs through the lens of local policymakers and the towns and cities they represent. We argue it is now time to expand the dialogue to include consideration for towns and cities beyond those early adopters to understand how they will fare, and how CAVs might interact with other important policy agendas facing them.

We discuss levels of preparedness and the different challenges that CAVs will pose for the built environments of cities. We also explore how CAVs will interact with potentially competing policy agendas seeking to enhance the liveability of cities. Finally, we consider how responses to CAVs are being developed and what the implications of these are.

This book will appeal to policymakers, practitioners, and academics interested in the potential impacts of CAVs and in understand more about how they will interact with other important policy agendas being pursued in cities and regions.