Policy Pathways for Autonomous Vehicles in Urban Mobility: Insights and Strategic Lessons from a Systematic Review

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) could improve safety, accessibility, emissions, and efficiency in urban transport. Real-world adoption, however, remains slow because of technical, policy, behavioural, and infrastructure constraints. This chapter builds on an existing systematic review of AV literature (n = 41, peer-reviewed, 2003–23) and supplements it with additional practice evidence (AV pilot evaluations and policy) to develop an evidence-informed pathway for the policy design of urban AV adoption. It synthesises AV governance, behavioural and infrastructure requirements for their adoption, including lessons from early-adopter cities and related mobility transitions (eg, Electric Vehicles, micromobility, and shared mobility), to point to the importance of governance and implementation transparency, multi-stakeholder approaches, equity, and alignment with climate and emissions goals. The chapter closes with an actionable AV policymaking framework on the what, how, who, and when of policy action, as a step towards scaling up AVs beyond pilot-stage projects and towards resilient urban mobility.