Local authorities will be required to send Traffic Regulation Orders to a central publication platform, under plans to digitise the process outlined in the King's Speech.
Under the planned Automated Vehicles Bill, a stipulation will ensure councils send digital TROs covering issues such as setting speed limits, closing roads and designating parking bays to the central platform.
This would create 'a digital map of the road network to support the operation of self-driving vehicles'.
As the House of Commons library notes, the making of TROs 'can be long and costly and there have been calls for reform of the advertising requirements to bring down the cost'.
Currently, within 14 days of making the order the authority must place a notice in the local press announcing their decision.
In May 2020 the Government suspended some of the rules around making TROs to allow councils in England to better deal with COVID issues.
The Traffic Orders Procedure (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/536) attempted to speed up and simplify making Traffic Orders and to provide alternative publicity arrangements.
However, the amendments were withdrawn on 4 May 2021.
Alex Smith, managing director of Buchanan Computing said: 'We welcome the proposals for the digitisation of traffic orders as part of the DfT's Plan for Drivers and in the King's Speech.
'For a number of years, we have been working with the DfT and local authorities on both this initiative and have had a key role in helping to shape the solutions that are coming down the track.
'The digitisation of traffic regulation orders in particular is long overdue - it paves the way for a national digital infrastructure that will open the road network to autonomous vehicles and it marks a significant step forward for smart cities and the UK’s future transport network.'
The DfT also announced plans for the creation of a national parking platform by 2024, in its recent Plan for Drivers.
