The future is almost upon us. During my lifetime I’ve seen a number of innovations that have profoundly changed the way in which we live and work. I remember the advent of home and school computers (the ZX Spectrum 48k and the BBC Acorn respectively). My undergraduate years saw the extraordinary appearance of the affordable mobile phone. When I was at school, no one really used the internet. When I started work it was the essential tool. The next big change is now nearly with us. Self-driving cars will start rolling off the production lines in the next few years.
At the heart of this revolution will be local business people. Ford is an enormous part of the UK car industry, selling over 300,000 cars in Britain every year – and it’s a long-standing part of the Brentwood community. They have their UK headquarters in Warley and manufacturing plants in Dunton and Dagenham. Given the importance of the car industry to this constituency, I’m in frequent contact with Ford. On an early meeting I was genuinely surprised to hear that they will start to produce Level 5 (that’s no steering wheel) vehicles in 2021.
The potential that such change brings with it is enormous. From helping commuters to providing easy transport for the elderly or disabled to reducing congestion on our roads (driverless cars will have faster reaction times and so will be able to drive closer to each other) to making travel safer (90% of accidents are caused by human error) – the possibilities are remarkable. As an MP I see how the problems my constituents experience with parking at Epping and Theydon Bois stations could dissolve, how it might become cheaper to run more and better rural bus services, and how it can improve journey times.
The Government is doing its bit to get Britain ready for this revolution. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and will allow innovation to flourish and help put the UK at the forefront of automated vehicle ownership and use. This should be good news for our country and our locality. The future’s bright – the future is Brentwood.