UK automated passenger services permits: Automated Vehicles Act 2024 Part 5 and the Automated Vehicles (Permits for Automated Passenger Services) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/439)
A company that wants to carry passengers in vehicles designed to travel autonomously, or in trials of them, needs a permit that names the areas and vehicles covered and carries conditions, including a mandatory condition to publish reports on how it safeguards passengers. The 2026 regulations let the authority vary, suspend or withdraw a permit, urgently where needed, on grounds that include serious safety concerns, and govern how information shared under permit conditions may be passed on.
Scope. Reaches a US company that carries passengers in Great Britain in a vehicle designed or adapted to travel autonomously, or in a trial of one, since it needs a permit under s. 82 to do so outside taxi, private hire and bus licensing.
Draft mapping. Drafted by the Register's agents from the rule's text and not yet confirmed by a person. It is the Register's reading, not legal advice: whether and how the rule applies to you is a question for counsel.
Controls this rule maps to
Required by the text The rule's text requires a measure that is this control, or plainly includes it. Implied A binding rule whose purpose needs this control, but whose text does not name it. The Register's reading. Recommended A voluntary standard or guidance recommends it; nothing binds you to it. Proposed Appears in a proposed rule or proposed provision that is not yet in force.
| Control | Strength | Where in the rule, and why | Confidence | Missing or failed in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard domain restriction C-E2 | Implied | s. 82(4)(a)-(b) (in force 15 May 2026, S.I. 2026/437 reg. 2(a)). | medium | 4 cases |
| Reporting integrity C-V2 | Implied | s. 87(4): the authority 'must include a permit condition ... requiring the permit holder to publish reports about the automated passenger services ... and in particular about the steps which it takes ... (b) to safeguard passengers more generally'; S.I. 2026/439 reg. 10. | medium | 1 case |
| Organizational recovery process C-R4 | Implied | S.I. 2026/439 reg. 5(2)(a) breach of a permit condition and (h)(i) 'there are serious safety concerns about the vehicle'; reg. 8 urgent suspension. | medium | 1 case |
| Independent audit log C-V1 | Implied | s. 88(1): 'Permit conditions may, in particular, include conditions as to the collection and sharing of information'. | low | 1 case |