The future of British road transport: Electric, automated and connected.
And Town Halls need to be at the centre of the debate of how these changes will get rolled out.
So says the Local Government Association (LGA), which has just issued a special report into the rise of tech like autonomous connected vehicles.
In its Clean, connected and in-control: what tomorrow’s transport technology could mean for councils, the local authority leadership group says this combination of technologies will bring about “the most significant change in how we travel since the invention of the internal combustion engine” – and how important it is that local government is part of the discussion.
Noting that this week the Prime Minister identified smart transport as one of her four national tech ‘Grand Challenges’, LGA says from a local leadership perspective the potential for public good from this technological revolution is significant, but the opportunities need to be grasped and challenges overcome.
To do so, the study last out potential tech-driven transport developments, how innovative councils are getting involved in trials, and the issues that all councils will need to address in the future.
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It is also a call for engagement from different groups with an involvement in the area to feed ideas in and help better understand the potential of future transport technologies.
“Decisions taken now could have profound impacts on the shape of our communities,” points out the body’s Transport spokesman, Cllr Martin Tett.
“The role of local leaders is to reflect on how technological trends could affect their area and how these developments could be harnessed to solve other problems.
“It is the job of councils to plan the future shape of our towns and cities, and we hope this guide will serve as a useful primer to get local politicians and senior officers thinking about the impact on their area.”
