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

  • North American OEMs embrace advanced safety features
    August 14, 2014
    New research from Frost & Sullivan's Analysis of the North American Advanced Features Market and Optional/Standard Strategy of OEMs finds consumers demand seamless connectivity and high-end infotainment features in a car. The research also highlights the lifesaving technologies and features like night vision assist with pedestrian detection or collision warning and mitigation using augmented reality, which are accorded a higher importance compared to other features like power lift gate or ambient lighting i
    Read More
  • Ford trials technology to help drivers ‘ride the green wave’
    October 24, 2016
    Ford is currently trialling technology which aims to reduce time spent waiting at a red light. Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory uses information on traffic light timings from a roadside unit to display to the driver the best speed to travel at to get a green light. The tests are part of the UK Autodrive self-driving and connected car trial, a 16-member, publicly funded US$24 million (£20 million) project which is developing and trialling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure technologies tha
    Read More
  • The Asia-Pacific poses a multitude of ITS challenges
    May 30, 2014
    The Asia-Pacific ITS Forum and Exhibition in Auckland, New Zealand, provided a focus for the region’s ITS Associations. Mary Bell reports. In late April, ITS New Zealand hosted the 13th Asia-Pacific ITS Forum and Exhibition in Auckland. Around 350 delegates from 24 nations gathered to share and advance ITS applications on both strategic and technical levels and to discuss the differing and various challenges faced in the region.
    Read More
  • Tolling is still stuck on the sidelines says ASECAP speaker
    August 19, 2015
    Geoff Hadwick attended ASECAP’s 2015 Study Days meeting in Lisbon and found a frustrated European tolling sector undertaking some soul searching. The international road tolling industry its failing to make it case and the sector is losing out to a range of other socio-political lobby groups according to International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) chief executive Pat Jones. Speaking at the recent 2015 ASECAP Study Days conference in Lisbon, Jones issued a stark warning: “Tolling is still o
    Read More

Highlighted Content