Planning decisions taken over the next three years will decide whether driverless vehicles free up land for housing or pile congestion onto the roads, says a report produced for the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) by Institute for Driverless Transport (IfDT). Planners hold powers to shape which way it goes, from local plans to planning conditions, argues the report, which is for RTPI members only. The report says if private car ownership falls as a consequence of autonomous vehicles, the land now used for parking could be turned over to homes, green space and town centre regeneration, most of all in cities where it is most valuable. However, the primer notes that more than four in ten of Waymo’s robotaxi miles in California already run with no passenger, empty traffic that adds to congestion unless the rollout is actively managed. Autonomous vehicles: A primer for planners working in the UK – Emerging risks and opportunities for the creation of thriving places was peer reviewed by Mark Frost (director of policy, Transport Planning Society) and Tom van Vuren (former director of policy, Transport Planning Society). Driverless taxis are due to start carrying passengers in London this year, and a new report argues that the way planners respond over the next three years will shape Britain’s towns long after the technology stops being a novelty. The report was written by the Institute for Driverless Transport (IfDT), an independent research body, and published by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the professional body for around 27,000 planners across the UK. This year’s robotaxi launch will put the UK among the world’s most competitive driverless-vehicle markets, behind only the US, China and the United Arab Emirates. Three firms plan to run robotaxis in London, as early as September, with Waymo already testing more than