Abstract
Contemporary systems of mobility are undergoing a transition towards automation. In the UK, this transition is being led by (often new) partnerships between incumbent manufacturers and new entrants, in collaboration with national governments, local/regional councils, and research institutions. This paper first offers a framework for analyzing the governance of the transition, adapting ideas from the Transition Management (TM) perspective, and then applies the framework to ongoing automated vehicle transition dynamics in the UK. The empirical analysis suggests that the UK has adopted a reasonably comprehensive approach to the governing of automated vehicle innovation but that this approach cannot be characterized as sufficiently inclusive, democratic, diverse and open. The lack of inclusivity, democracy, diversity and openness is symptomatic of the post-political character of how the UK’s automated mobility transition is being governed. The paper ends with a call for a reconfiguration of the automated vehicle transition in the UK and beyond, so that much more space is created for dissent and for reflexive and comprehensive big picture thinking on (automated) mobility futures.
Highlights
A transition towards automated mobility is underway [1,2,3,4]
Governments have become important actors in this multi-scalar race for supremacy in the automation of transport, through a range of activities including the adaptation of policy and regulation and the funding of demonstrations and trials. Their interests lie as both producers and consumers: countries including the UK, Germany, South Korea, the USA, and Japan are seeking to attract finance for research and development, and domestic production of automated vehicles (AVs hereafter), but they are making and/or supporting claims of the environmental, social, and economic benefits arising from the widespread adoption of these innovations through, for instance, official publications and funding regimes
This paper critically examines the governance of the transition to automated mobility, and seeks to make two contributions to the existing literature on AVs, and mobility transitions, more generally
Summary
A transition towards automated mobility is underway [1,2,3,4]. Every day there are reports of new trials, demonstrations, and partnerships, with a multitude of news stories covering the developments in robotic and automated vehicle innovation. Governments have become important actors in this multi-scalar race for supremacy in the automation of transport, through a range of activities including the adaptation of policy and regulation and the funding of demonstrations and trials Their interests lie as both producers and consumers: countries including the UK, Germany, South Korea, the USA, and Japan are seeking to attract finance for research and development, and domestic production of automated vehicles (AVs hereafter), but they are making and/or supporting claims of the environmental, social, and economic benefits arising from the widespread adoption of these innovations through, for instance, official publications and funding regimes. We conclude by calling for greater consideration of the political dimensions of innovation and transition processes, including in AV innovation in the UK
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