Is London prepared for driverless cars? Lords to investigate

The Committee will explore the implications of deploying driverless vehicles on roads and motorways both in London and around the country. The witnesses will be questioned on issues such as whether driverless cars could reduce congestion or accidents and eliminate the need for traffic signals.

The Committee will also explore how data gathered from autonomous vehicles could be used to benefit the public and which areas of regulation should be the responsibility of the government or transport authorities.

At 10:40am the Committee will hear from:

• Mr Michael Hurwitz, Director of Transport Innovation, Transport for London
• Mr Darren Capes, Transport System Manager, City of York Council

The Committee are likely to ask:

• What do you see as the benefits and drawbacks to the deployment of highly automated vehicles in cities?
• Driverless vehicles will generate a wealth of data of potential benefit to many audiences - Who will own this data and will you want access to it for network management or other purposes?
• Will driverless cars remove the need for traffic signals and white lines?

At 11:40am the Committee will hear from:

• Mr Mike Wilson, Chief Highways Engineer, Highways England
• Mr Steve Gooding, Director, RAC Foundation
• Mr Charlie Henderson, Partner, PA Consulting Group

The Committee are likely to ask:

• What are the significant opportunities, benefits, or problems for the use of automated vehicles by freight traffic?
• What are the key challenges for wide scale deployment of autonomous vehicles in the UK?
• The deployment of autonomous vehicles involves numerous regulatory issues relating to insurance, liability, technical standards and driver licensing. Which areas should the Government address nationally (or agree internationally) and which issues should be left to transport authorities or the market?

The evidence session will take place in Committee room 4A on Tuesday 15 November in the House of Lords at 10:30am.