Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of autonomous vehicle use on journey times for emergency services and buses, and the level of congestion on hospital access routes.

The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) has regular meetings with the National Police Chiefs Council, Association for Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Fire Chiefs Council alongside frontline officers. This work aims to support the development of processes and protocols to ensure emergency services interacting with automated vehicles are able to perform their duties safely and effectively.

Any impact on local bus or hospital access routes would be a consideration during an application for an Automated Passenger Service (APS) permit and assessed on a case-by-case basis by the local traffic authority.