The London Assembly Transport Committee has urged the Government to give Transport for London control over permits for autonomous passenger services in the capital, alongside a power to cap the number of vehicles operators could deploy. The committee’s October report contains 13 recommendations on how driverless passenger vehicles should be regulated in London. They are proposals, not new policy: the report does not itself transfer powers to TfL, set a cap or alter the present permitting system.
The central recommendation is that the present Automated Passenger Service permitting framework should be treated as a transitional arrangement during an initial small-scale pilot. The committee wants the Government, when the full regulations under the Automated Vehicles Act are put in place in 2027, to devolve to TfL the power to issue and withdraw permits and to set conditions for operators. It also calls for TfL to be able to set a numerical cap, including different limits across areas of London.
The report describes a system in which the Government grants operating permits while TfL must consent before a service can operate in London. The committee says that differs from taxi and private-hire licensing, where TfL has a direct role. During the pilot, it recommends that the Government create a formal route for TfL to request the immediate suspension of a permit, pending a decision by the Secretary of State for Transport.
Safety is a central part of the committee’s proposed test for consent. It recommends that TfL apply a higher baseline than that of a “careful and competent driver” and require concrete evidence that a vehicle and deployment plan would help reduce road danger in line with the Mayor’s Vision Zero approach. The committee says TfL should publish its criteria and withhold consent when an application does not meet them. This remains a recommended standard, rather than a standard now in force.
Under another recommendation, TfL would define safety incidents to include at least crashes and near misses. Operators would have to provide information about those incidents and the vehicle’s decision-making process within 24 hours as a condition of consent. The committee also recommends an accessible, consistent format for sharing the data. It wants a standard framework for interaction with emergency services, developed by TfL with the Metropolitan Police Service, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade.
The report also focuses on whether services could add to traffic. It proposes that “empty miles driven” become a core reporting measure, published alongside traffic and congestion data. Operators would also be asked to survey passengers about why they chose an autonomous vehicle and how they would otherwise have travelled. If TfL gains full regulatory powers, the committee says adverse effects on congestion, active travel or public-transport reliability should be grounds for withdrawing consent.
Accessibility and passenger safety form further parts of the proposed framework. The committee recommends that guidance be designed with disabled people and that applicants demonstrate co-design with disabled people. It also calls for passenger-safety standards at least equivalent to those for taxi and private-hire services, including safeguarding training and DBS checks for remote assistants. A further recommendation asks TfL, drivers’ representatives and operators to prepare a fair transition plan if permits are issued, covering possible job losses, retraining, redeployment and funding arrangements.
The committee drew on 44 written evidence submissions, two site visits and a survey of 1,053 London residents conducted in June. In that survey, 42 per cent said they opposed the use of autonomous passenger vehicles in London, while 29 per cent supported it; 29 per cent said they would be likely to use one if available. The committee says it has not heard sufficient evidence to be persuaded that London should welcome such services, citing uncertainty around claimed benefits, congestion, accessibility, safeguarding and safety on the capital’s road network.
The report therefore sets out a policy agenda for the Government and TfL rather than a decision to allow or block autonomous passenger services. Whether any of its recommendations are taken forward, and on what timetable, will depend on subsequent action by those bodies.
