Highways England to trial wirelessly connected vehicles and driverless cars

Highways England (HE) is to invest US$213.5 million (£150 million) on new technology, including trials of driverless car technology on motorways. As part of its innovation strategy, HE may introduce a connected corridor, or ‘wi-fi road’, which could see cars and infrastructure wirelessly connected, with drivers receiving news of advanced road closures or congestion warnings. The strategy also includes trialling radar technology on motorways and in tunnels to improve the way breakdowns are detected. A
April 11, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
8101 Highways England (HE) is to invest US$213.5 million (£150 million) on new technology, including trials of driverless car technology on motorways.

As part of its innovation strategy, HE may introduce a connected corridor, or ‘wi-fi road’, which could see cars and infrastructure wirelessly connected, with drivers receiving news of advanced road closures or congestion warnings. The strategy also includes trialling radar technology on motorways and in tunnels to improve the way breakdowns are detected.

As part of the strategy, HE will also join a trial that would see journey information sent wirelessly to specially adapted vehicles on the A2/M2 between London and Kent.

It also plans to ensure that trials are being undertaken for autonomous vehicles on motorways by the end of next year, to start to collect real world data on performance and potential impacts on capacity and operations.

The strategy also includes trialling radar technology on motorways and in tunnels to improve breakdown detection, as well as the possibility of improving the signalling of junctions on motorways to increase traffic flows and the development of ‘expressways’ on A-roads to encourage more free-flowing traffic.

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said: “We’re committed to using innovation to benefit the millions of journeys made on England’s Strategic Road Network today and in the future. We will work with our partners in the supply chain, technology specialists and the automotive industry to trial new technologies that will help make journeys on our roads safer, more reliable and better informed.

“This will involve supporting trials of better connected and autonomous vehicles on our motorways by the end of next year, testing radar technology to better detect breakdowns, and trialling fuel price signs on the M5 between Bristol and Exeter.”
Networking & Communication Systems Urban Traffic Control Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Netherlands road pricing trial results released
    February 2, 2012
    NXP Semiconductors and IBM have announced the final results of a landmark road pricing trial conducted in the Netherlands, which demonstrated that with the help of technology, drivers can be motivated to change their driving behaviour, reducing traffic congestion and contributing to a greener environment.
    Read More
  • IBTTA Summit: satellite tolling is the future
    August 15, 2019
    IBTTA members met in Florida to consider the technological changes that will impact their businesses – including satellite tolling. Colin Sowman reports from Orlando Over decades, the technology employed in toll collection has been honed to near perfection – automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are easily within a couple of per cent of infallibility even at highway speeds. However, technical innovations beyond the confines of the toll road cannot b
    Read More
  • Charging trial tests smartphones for road user charging
    January 26, 2012
    A new project is under way in Minnesota, investigating whether smartphones are technically and publicly acceptable for use in road user charging. Jason Barnes reports. In Minnesota, trials have been launched to determine whether smartphones are technologically viable and acceptable to the public for distance based road user charging (RUC). The Midwestern US state has engaged with Battelle to explore RUC technology options in a project which falls under the auspices of the US Federal Connected Vehicle progra
    Read More
  • The FIA’s formula for future mobility
    March 11, 2016
    The FIA’s Region I president Thierry Willemarck tells Colin Sowman about his organisation’s campaigning work for the rights of road users and mobility for all. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile may be best known as the FIA and the governing body for world motor sport - particularly Formula 1 - but its influence spreads far wider than the racetrack. The organisation was founded in 1904 with a remit to safeguard the rights and promote the interests of motorists and motor sport across the world. No
    Read More

Highlighted Content