Driverless Vehicles: Competition
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the competitiveness of the emerging autonomous vehicle market; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce regulatory and operational barriers to market entry.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 established the legal framework for regulating automated vehicles in the UK. In May 2026, the Department for Transport established a new Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme, creating a clear legal route for commercial pilot deployments.
These pilots are an important opportunity to improve regulatory and public understanding ahead of full implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act in the second-half of 2027.
Automated Vehicles technology continues to develop with major global players expressing interest in bringing automated passenger services to GB. Further to this, the UK’s Code of Practice for UK trialling continues to support research and development of technologies, including for wider use cases.
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