We provide a framework of alternative underlying explanations and hypotheses related to the value of travel time changes caused by the widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles (AVs). This framework supports a scenario-based approach for infrastructure planning based on various assumptions about the value of AV travel time. The main focus of this paper is on how the value of time may remain unchanged or even increase with the advent of AVs. This is in sharp contrast to existing views about how meaningful positive utility will be associated with traveling in AVs. In future, as field data reveals behavioral changes related to AV adoption, the most appropriate hypothesis within the framework will be validated and refined for future planning and system management. The framework proposed in this paper is supported by justifications from existing and emerging theoretical concepts and hypotheses, as well as a meta-analysis extracted from contemporary but isolated reports in the literature about the possibility that AV use will increase the value of travel time.