The Institute for Driverless Transport has published a comprehensive research roadmap setting out 65 questions it believes will help determine the future of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the UK.
Organised across five areas and 23 themes, the Roadmap is intended to help policymakers, transport operators, businesses, local authorities and other organisations understand the opportunities and challenges presented by driverless technology.
The Institute said the transition to autonomous transport could deliver significant safety and cost benefits, while freeing up time currently spent driving. However, it warned that the technology could also create new risks and cause disruption for people and industries that rely on driving for their livelihoods.
With autonomous vehicle services and markets still developing, the Institute believes there is an opportunity to influence how the technology is introduced and prepare for its wider consequences.
In London, customers can already take supervised rides in a small fleet of Wayve vehicles through Uber, with a licensed driver on board. Waymo and Baidu are preparing services in the capital, while Uber, Pony.ai and Verne have begun testing in Manchester.
International developments demonstrate how quickly the sector could expand. Waymo reports fully autonomous operations across 15 cities, while Pony.ai reported that paid orders in Shenzhen by mid-February 2026 had exceeded its total for the whole of 2025. The company also reported a 70% reduction in the component cost of its latest autonomous driving system.
The Institute said falling hardware costs were only part of the equation, with the overall cost of providing a transport service remaining a key consideration.
One of the central questions identified by the Roadmap is how quickly autonomous vehicle costs will fall, and when driverless services could become cheaper than existing transport options.
The Institute believes demand could grow rapidly once services become sufficiently affordable and useful, potentially creating a tipping point for adoption. The timing, however, will depend on where the technology is deployed and decisions around policy, investment and service design.
Understanding how quickly that transition could happen will be important for organisations assessing how much time they have to prepare.
Bringing more voices into the debate
Launched in April 2026, the Institute for Driverless Transport aims to help individuals and organisations understand what the transition to autonomous transport could mean for them.
The Roadmap draws on dozens of interviews and wider discussions conducted over the preceding six months, involving operators bringing autonomous vehicles to London, regulators, academics, logistics businesses, trade unions, local authorities, security specialists and civil society organisations.
The Institute said the research had highlighted the extent to which autonomous transport could affect areas beyond the transport industry, including employment, public services, the built environment and national resilience.
It believes the expertise of people working in these fields will be essential to identifying the right questions, designing services that meet people’s needs and preparing for potential disruption.
The Institute is therefore seeking to bring a wider range of organisations and specialists into the debate while there is still time to influence how autonomous transport develops.
The Research Roadmap is intended to provide a starting point for that discussion, identifying the unanswered questions that will help shape the UK’s approach to driverless transport.
(Pictures: Institute for Driverless Transport)
