Highways England showcases progress on high tech corridor project

Highways England is leading a project to establish a high tech corridor on the A2/M2 in Kent which will allow specially-equipped vehicles to interact with roadside infrastructure. As part of the initiative, Highways England hosted a week-long Testfest event in Chatham, Kent, this week, showing how test vehicles receive information on road conditions, road works and the time left for traffic lights to change to green via a wireless network. Jo White, head of Highways England’s intelligent transport system
October 12, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
8101 Highways England is leading a project to establish a high tech corridor on the A2/M2 in Kent which will allow specially-equipped vehicles to interact with roadside infrastructure.


As part of the initiative, Highways England hosted a week-long Testfest event in Chatham, Kent, this week, showing how test vehicles receive information on road conditions, road works and the time left for traffic lights to change to green via a wireless network.

Jo White, head of Highways England’s intelligent transport systems group, says: “We are looking at ITS G5, a short-range Wi-Fi technology, and cellular technology, and are interested in how they deliver information to the vehicle.”  

As part of Testfest, ITS International travelled in a trial run of a specially-equipped people carrier along a section of the M2, which demonstrated how information is received by the onboard unit and displayed as icons on a screen behind the wheel.

For example, 60mph icons serve as a consistent reminder of the correct speed limit, while roadworks warnings can be followed by lane divert messages.

Highways England says the screens can help reduce the probability of drivers missing information displayed on roadside signs. It also provides drivers and fleet managers with information to make real-time decisions could potentially improve traffic flow along the corridor.

White believes the speed limit information could provide Highways England with more flexibility of where and when to sign information, potentially freeing it from dependence on physical infrastructure in the future.

The M2 demonstration included a simulated border in which the driver received information between two areas labelled Country A and Country B.

White says drivers can receive information from their ‘home country’ and then pass over the border and continue to receive relevant journey data. This is achieved using the driver’s existing service provider to transmit the data from the country to the in-vehicle device.

Other partners involved in the project include the 1837 Department for Transport, 1466 Transport for London and 2222 Kent County Council. This consortium is part of InterCor, a European Union programme which aims to test services which work across borders, connecting the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

The project is scheduled to be complete in 2019.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Dynniq tests virtual tool for air quality evaluation and monitoring
    June 23, 2016
    An air quality evaluation system that utilises existing data has been modelled on the UK’s motorways and tested in Manchester as Peter Kirby and Paul Grayston describe. It has long been known that emissions from road transport are the principal source of NO2 pollution, especially in the urban environment, and that appropriate transport management can play a big role in meeting environment and public health objectives.
    Read More
  • Speeding ambulances through borders
    October 26, 2016
    David Crawford sees hope for stricken patients on the wrong side of the border. In treating patients with heart or stroke conditions, speed is of the essence.
    Read More
  • Customised traffic information with new SmartWay application
    December 24, 2012
    The new SmartWay app from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) p will help drivers navigate Tennessee highways, providing up-to-the-minute customised traffic information. The home screen for the TDOT SmartWay App is a map, which will locate the user’s current position. Users will see icons on the left hand side of the map for traffic speeds, incidents, cameras, road construction, road conditions, and dynamic message signs. Map views can be customised by simply clicking on those icons.
    Read More
  • Two wheels good
    June 25, 2018
    As cycling becomes an increasingly popular method for commuting and recreation, what moves are afoot to keep the growing numbers of cyclists safe on ever-more-busy roads? Alan Dron puts on his helmet and pedals off to look. It would have seemed incredible just a decade ago, but cycling in London has become almost unfeasibly popular. The Transport for London (TfL) June 2017 Strategic Cycling Analysis document noted there were now 670,000 cycle trips a day in the UK capital, an increase of 130% since 2000.
    Read More

Highlighted Content