In addition to changes to the road network, the government have announced two major lines of investment to support the development of autonomous (driverless) cars.
In July 2016, the government added £30m to the Intelligent Mobility Fund to support:
research and development of innovative connected and autonomous vehicle technologies.
And it went on to state:
This builds on the first £20 million awarded to a number of projects in February, and ensures the UK is able to take advantage of the latest technological developments in driverless cars research. An additional £19 million fund is also paving the way for driverless car projects in Greenwich, Bristol, and a joint project in Milton Keynes and Coventry.
This suggests that the government is putting a total of £70m into developing driverless cars, at the same time that it has cut subsidies for alternative energy sources and as evidence mounts on the mounting environmental and health problems arising from car use. Perhaps public money would be better spent supporting alternatives to the car?
