Robot cars should be in Hamilton’s planning – Taylor

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are coming to Hamilton and the city needs to start planning for them.

So says deputy mayor Geoff Taylor in addressing the Draft Hamilton-Waikato Metropolitan Spatial Plan, expected to include details on transport-related challenges and possibilities for the city during coming years.

“There are cities in the United States that are rethinking on mass transit because they are investing in driverless cars,” Stuff reports Taylor as saying.

City planning manager Luke O’Dwyer says the spatial plan doesn’t preclude any single mode of transportation, nor stop roads being built.

However, the city’s geographic expansion means public transport is a necessity rather than an option to using cars, he says.

The plan will identify “blue and green” infrastructure and transportation corridors, such as the potential use of the Waikato River and other waterways (blue) and parks and forests (green) in identifying sites for future land use.

Highly productive soils around Hamilton are identified to avoid urban encroachment.