C/AV planning turns to business cases, says DfT

Darren Capes, DfT ITS lead, said projects are working on the business case to understand the benefits of C/AV technologies and what the issues may be. He was speaking at the ITS (UK) Connected Vehicle Forum in Birmingham, where Zenzic - an organisation created by the UK government to accelerate self-driving technology - explained its roadmap to 2030 implementation, summarising co-ordination efforts and project management. If efforts are not coordinated, it may take another 50 years for the technolog
July 9, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
%$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 9782 0 oLinkInternal <span class="oLinkInternal "><span class="oLinkInternal ">RSS</span></span> Events (Diary) false /rss/events/ true false%>

Planning for the introduction of connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) on UK roads is turning from technology to business cases, says the 1837 Department for Transport (DfT).

Darren Capes, DfT ITS lead, said projects are working on the business case to understand the benefits of C/AV technologies and what the issues may be.

He was speaking at the ITS (UK) Connected Vehicle Forum in Birmingham, where Zenzic - an organisation created by the UK government to accelerate self-driving technology - explained its roadmap to 2030 implementation, summarising co-ordination efforts and project management.

If efforts are not coordinated, it may take another 50 years for the technology to be implemented, Zenzic said.

The discussion looked at how testing of individual vehicles is being scaled up in local projects to trials of whole-service solutions as the knowledge of C/AVs increases. The meeting also covered work needed prior to implementation, such as the digitalisation of thousands of traffic orders on the roads and how connectivity can make cities more efficient through parking and kerbside management solutions.

Forum chair Andy Graham described the discussion as a “sober critique of what has been done and what is still to do”.

“The other impressive element was the wide range of connected solutions that are already becoming commonplace,” Graham adds. “Connectivity technology we have is making a real difference, which may not be as exciting as driverless cars but is here and now and making transport safer and more efficient.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • LA launches own ‘Green New Deal’
    August 15, 2019
    Los Angeles, once a temple to the automobile, has followed the Democrats in launching its own Green New Deal – and the city has made big pledges on urban mobility investment The Democratic Party has started something. The Green New Deal, one of whose most high-profile supporters is new congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, intends to persuade the public that swift action is necessary to combat climate change. Now the city of Los Angeles has followed suit, releasing what it calls ‘LA’s Green New Deal’.
    Read More
  • West Midlands to become UK testing centre for C/AVs
    June 7, 2018
    Midlands Future Mobility consortium will turn 50 miles of roads in Coventry and Birmingham into a UK testing centre to develop connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) and related technologies. These networked roads will feature smart vehicle monitoring, data analytics and 5G wireless infrastructure. The consortium, consisting of industry and academic professionals, intends to enable industries to carry out tests using real-world environments. The consortium is led by WMG, University of Warwick and
    Read More
  • Europe calls for guidance on evaluating ITS projects
    December 4, 2012
    A European Commission study report has revealed a lack of consistency or standard practice for evaluating the funding needs and fiscal performance of ITS projects. New guidelines are urgently needed for monitoring public funding of ITS schemes, says a recent report from the European Commission (EC). A specially-commissioned study has found no readily available comparative analysis of transport funding schemes and ITS investment methodologies to support project decision making. A survey of nine EU member sta
    Read More
  • Connected cones make for safer sites
    May 31, 2013
    David Crawford welcomes new lives for old road safety products. Traffic cones and barrels have traditionally been on the bottom shelf of the road construction and maintenance industry, typically forming visible soft safety barriers for temporary works at a lower cost than concrete alternatives. On both sides of the Atlantic, however, they are fast gaining new roles as instrumented components in advanced construction safety arrays. The EC-sponsored €1 million (US$1.31 million) Safelane collaborative innovati
    Read More

Highlighted Content