The Regional Studies Association is delighted to announce the latest book in the Regional Studies Policy Impact Books Series.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: the Challenges Facing Cities and Regions  

Authors: Stephen Parkes and Ed Ferrari

Over the last decade there has been substantial progress towards the development of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). As the technology that provides CAVs with the ability to undertake more advanced driving tasks has reached the real-world testing stage, attention is now turning towards how CAVs should be regulated and what their impacts might be on the environments in which they operate.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: the Challenges Facing Cities and Regions makes the case that it is now time to expand the dialogue to include consideration for towns and cities beyond early adopters to understand how CAVs will fare, and how they might interact with other important policy agendas facing them.  

This Policy Impact Book by Stephen Parkes and Ed Ferrari and funded by the Regional Studies Association (RSA) addresses the following questions:

• How will the urban and built environment practically accommodate CAVs?
• What problems might arise, and will there be “winners and losers”—if so, who and in what ways?
• How will different policy agendas—across geographical scales or policy domains—align or conflict as the urban environment begins to accommodate CAVs?
• Will policies promoting or accommodating CAVs help or hinder other urbanagendas including,  but not limited to, active travel, zero carbon, health and well-being, social and economic inclusion, and liveability?
• What do best-practice policy solutions look like, and how can local and regional policymakers plan proactively?
• What will national policymakers and infrastructure providers need to do? And what must be resolved locally?

RSA members will receive their free copy of this Policy Expo book in the post and can read online here: https://rsa.tandfonline.com/toc/rpim20/4/1.

For more information on the Policy Expo and the team, please visit the project website – www.policyexpo.net .

Watch the recording of the #RinR21 session SS24. Accommodating Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Understanding the Challenges for Cities – Chair: Stephen Parkes, University of Sheffield, UK; Speakers: Iain Docherty, University of Stirling, UK; Kelsey Oldbury, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden; Edward Ferrari, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.