Reimagining Transportation Infrastructure for the Autonomous Era: A Comprehensive Review

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to reshape transportation systems by influencing roadway design, traffic operations, digital infrastructure, public transport integration, and regulatory frameworks. The implications of AV deployment extend well beyond vehicle technology itself and raise broader questions for infrastructure planning, safety governance, and urban policy. This study presents a comprehensive literature review of AV impacts on transportation infrastructure and planning, with the aim of synthesizing current knowledge across physical, operational, digital, and policy dimensions. A structured concept-centric review approach, informed by PRISMA-based screening procedures, was used to identify and analyze relevant studies published between 2010 and 2025. The review covers major themes including intersections, geometric design, pavement and bridge performance, parking, signage and lane markings, communication networks, traffic efficiency, lane-changing behavior, safety, public acceptance, public transport, mobility patterns, maintenance, testing, deployment, liability, and insurance. The synthesis indicates that AVs may improve traffic flow, reduce some forms of human-error-related risk, and alter long-standing assumptions in infrastructure design through enhanced sensing, coordination, and connectivity. Simultaneously, these benefits remain highly conditional on penetration rates, mixed-traffic interactions, infrastructure quality, cybersecurity, regulatory readiness, and public trust. The review further shows how AV adoption is likely to shift transportation planning away from purely human-centered geometric and operational design toward more integrated, digitally supported, and system-level approaches. This synthesis highlights the need for adaptive planning frameworks that can respond to transitional traffic conditions while addressing equity, safety, governance, and infrastructure resilience in the autonomous era.