We also asked the Department about the condition local roads would need to be in to support the introduction of autonomous vehicles from 2026. The Department recognised that there will be challenges. For example, one of the semi-autonomous technologies, already licensed for use on the strategic road network, require road line markings to be of a sufficient standard so that they can be detected by its autonomous vehicles. The Department told us that National Highways is currently exploring the impacts of autonomous vehicles on road layout, lane markings and roadwork designs and maintenance across the strategic road network. 78