The Friday Blog | Are Britain’s Roads Ready for Autonomous Vehicles? London may lead, but the rest of the UK must follow

Steve Birdstall

CEO

Gaist

The future of travel has arrived, or so we are told. Driverless taxis are reported to begin operating on UK roads before the year is out.

You may have even seen one of them on the road today. British startup Wayve Technologies has begun test runs ahead of government-backed robotaxi trials launching this year, with London set to become the UK’s test ground for autonomous vehicles. Global players, including U.S. company Waymo and China’s Baidu, also plan to take part with September launches publicised.

It’s an exciting glimpse into the future. But, as it stands now, Britain’s roads aren’t ready for this revolution. Indeed, the data from these high-profile trials in London may be favourable, but it will paint a misleading picture of national readiness. The reason for this? London is a highly controlled and heavily resourced environment.  So while the results might be positive for London and the deployments might well be highly successful, the reality for other parts of the country is far more complex. A well marked city street is very different from an overgrown country lane.

Addressing this gap needs more than the current trials can offer. More than testing in controlled environments, the future viability of autonomous vehicles across the UK will depend on having a far clearer, more consistent understanding of road conditions across the entire network.

London vs the wider UK: a gap in readiness

With the UK’s roadmap for autonomous vehicles extending beyond just the capital, The Automated Vehicles Act of 2024 has established an ambitious framework for deploying self-driving vehicles across the country, with full autonomy within the next decade. However, while ambition is national, readiness is not. Beyond the capital, the challenge becomes significantly more complex.

Analysis from Gaist’s ‘Lining the Way’ report for the Department for Transport showed back in 2021 that while major A roads across the UK are generally better maintained, around 15% of their road markings are still in poor condition, rising sharply to nearly half of markings on C roads. These are concerning statistics when you consider that AV systems rely heavily on lane markings and visual cues to operate safely. And things have only gotten worse since. Local and rural roads in particular are in a poor state, meaning the information on them lacks the clarity and reliability needed for both human and autonomous drivers.

The reality the industry is missing

The truth is that the state of our roads today is the main issue that AV businesses will face when rolling out across the UK. Of course, other issues exist, but the hard reality is that autonomous vehicles must operate on roads as they are today. Autonomous vehicles thrive on standardisation, but the country’s roads are inherently variable – something which even experienced human drivers struggle with given the road deterioration.

As drivers, we may take it for granted but road markings play a critical role as a form of on-road communication, guiding decision-making, warning of hazards and enabling users to “read the road.” When these markings are unclear or deteriorated, that communication breaks down, reducing their effectiveness for all road users. For an autonomous system, which relies heavily on consistent visual inputs, this introduces a layer of complexity that is often underestimated. This inconsistency is compounded by a lack of nationwide visibility. Currently, there is no unified, nationwide view of road conditions, with data fragmented across local authorities that often face limited resources. Inspections and road works alike remain largely reactive, making it next to impossible to identify and address infrastructure gaps at the scale required for wider AV deployment.

This is why a full digital condition assessment of the nation’s roads is critical for the success of Autonomous Vehicles. With this, it becomes possible for local and national authorities to set a consistent, network-wide standard for AV readiness. Capturing high-resolution, standardised data across entire networks means they can move from isolated, point-in-time inspections to a complete and comparable view of road conditions. This allows deterioration patterns to be tracked and risk areas to be identified before they develop into more serious defects, enabling earlier, more targeted intervention and reducing the need for reactive repairs.

Targeted, data-led maintenance and clearer visibility of infrastructure gaps will be key to moving beyond controlled pilots and unlocking wider benefits of AVs. It also creates a baseline against which AV systems can be tested and validated, ensuring that infrastructure meets a consistent standard regardless of location. Without this, the UK is set to miss out on the full potential of autonomous vehicles, particularly in improving road safety, where human error is estimated to contribute to around 88% of collisions, alongside improvements in transport efficiency and accessibility.

Conclusion

If the UK is genuinely serious about becoming a global leader in autonomous mobility, something needs to change. And fast. Ambition alone will not deliver on the lofty promises made. The capability now exists to build a complete, data-led view of the full road network, which would ensure investment is targeted effectively and progress can be measured at a national scale.

And this is already happening In Northern Ireland, a full national road survey is already underway. This landmark project will create one of the most detailed and consistent pictures of a road network anywhere in the world. This level of insight is setting a new benchmark for how infrastructure can be understood, managed and prepared for future technologies.

At a local level the impact is already clear. In Blackpool, data-led early intervention is forecast to save £100 million over 25 years while reducing reactive repairs. It also shows how more consistent, better-maintained roads are possible, which are the conditions needed for autonomous vehicles to operate reliably at scale.

Taken together, these examples point to what is possible for the UK. If it is to meet the standard required for a nationwide autonomous vehicle rollout, a comprehensive, data-led understanding of its road network is the fundamental step. Without this, the gap in readiness will remain, and the UK’s ambitions of global leadership in AV adoption will be at risk.