The United Kingdom Speeds Up the Rollout of Driverless Vehicles.

The Labor government has staked its political future on the ability to reactivate the UK’s economy. To achieve this, it is willing to accelerate the pace of projects suffocated by regulation or excessive precautions. The British Department of Transportation has announced that it will advance by one year, to spring 2026, the green light for testing driverless vehicles in the country.

Companies that have invested in this technology will be able to deploy autonomous taxi and bus services on streets and roads, previously booked by users through a mobile app. The Automated Vehicles Act anticipates that by spring 2027, the rollout of these vehicles will cover the entire country. The Labor government estimates that this new reality could bring nearly 40,000 jobs and billions of pounds—up to £42 billion over a decade—to the country’s economy.

“The future of transportation is already arriving. Driverless vehicles can bring jobs, investment, and the opportunity for the UK to become one of the world leaders in this new technology,” proclaimed Transport Minister Heidi Alexander while announcing her decision to accelerate the rollout.

During that first year, the government will be able to thoroughly study all the information and data generated by the new vehicles. Prior to this, sources from the Department of Transportation assure that all these robotic cars will be required to meet a safety level at least as competent as that of the best and most cautious drivers.

Proponents of this new mobility technology argue that the reaction capability of these vehicles is much faster than that of humans, and after training and continuous learning in complex scenarios, it is possible to significantly reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused each year by traffic accidents.

“We cannot afford to be pushed to the back seat when it comes to Artificial Intelligence, unless it’s an autonomous bus,” joked British Technology Minister Peter Kyle. “We must lead in a sector that will make our roads safer and transport much easier.”

The possibility of beginning to use these vehicles in a city like London, with its medieval layout, poor urban planning, and few major avenues, presents a colossal challenge for the companies involved in this sector, but it also ensures a generation of data and a much more intense learning experience for the vehicles compared to driving on large highways, open spaces, and layouts designed for cars typical of American landscapes.

Tests with driverless vehicles in the UK have been conducted since January 2015. British companies Wayve and Oxa have been at the forefront of these initial limited trials. Wayve recently secured private investment of nearly €1.2 billion and has announced recent partnerships with Nissan and Uber. Oxa, for its part, has already launched driverless bus services in some areas of the United States, as well as robotic cars at London’s Heathrow Airport that assist with handling travelers’ luggage.

“With these initial trials, we will earn the trust of users and generate new jobs, services, and markets,” said Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall. “Since we deployed our first prototype in Cambridge, we have been able to carry out the first journey on public roads driven by Artificial Intelligence. We started in London and have expanded to the rest of the country,” he pointed out.