Policy development Part 6: Adaptation of existing regimes Digitalising Traffic Regulation Orders
Self-driving vehicles need to have an accurate and up-to-date understanding of the road, and to know the legal parameters of the network. Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) hold much of the necessary information to facilitate this, for example, information on speed limits, parking bays, bus lanes and road works. TROs are issued and held by traffic regulation authorities and traditionally stored on paper or in separate authority systems, and the format and content of TROs can differ between each authority. The information may therefore not be readily available to those developing or deploying self-driving vehicles.
	In order to facilitate access to the information, the Act gives the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers the power to make regulations to require TRO information to be provided by traffic regulation authorities in England or Wales respectively, to specify where and when it is sent, and that it must be provided in line with specified electronic data standards.
	The Act allows for the Government to publish this information via a common publication platform so that it can be used by self-driving vehicles and by other electronic equipment designed to undertake or facilitate the driving of vehicles on a road for example, satellite navigation applications and features.