Five companies shortlisted for Roads of the Future project

Five companies will present ideas ranging from smart traffic lights to segregated driverless zones in a competition to make UK roads fit or driverless cars. The candidates will receive £30,000 to test ideas, with £50,000 prize available to the winner this autumn. The National Infrastructure Commission shortlisted the companies from 81 entries submitted to The Roads for the Future initiative – led by Highways England and Innovate UK. Aecom is examining how smart signals could advise drivers and vehicles
May 29, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Five companies will present ideas ranging from smart traffic lights to segregated driverless zones in a competition to make UK roads fit or driverless cars. The candidates will receive £30,000 to test ideas, with £50,000 prize available to the winner this autumn.

The National Infrastructure Commission shortlisted the companies from 81 entries submitted to The Roads for the Future initiative – led by Highways England and Innovate UK.

Aecom is examining how smart signals could advise drivers and vehicles the speed they should be driving at, so they can arrive at the next set of traffic lights as they turn green. The technology is intended to cut congestion and eliminate stop-go driving. This concept will be tested using a simulation model on the A59 in York.

Arup is looking at how kerbsides with fixed features such as double yellow lines, parking bays and bus stops could become more flexible and change according to the time of day and levels of demand. The team will select a high street in London to test their FlexKerbs model.

City Science is investigating how sections of existing roads could be dedicated to driverless cars and make it easier to manage risks and integrate connected and autonomous vehicles into the existing transport network.

Immense Solutions is examining how artificial intelligence could help sat-nav systems learn better routes to help driven and driverless cars change course to avoid congestion. The concept will be tested in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council using simulations on Abington Road, Thames Street, Oxpens Road and Botley Road.

Leeds City Council is investigating how data generated from digitally connected cars could be used to improve traffic light systems and allow highway authorities to manage traffic on their roads better and reduce tailbacks. The team will conduct its test using models of roads across the city.

Related Content

  • ITS needs data highways
    November 18, 2014
    Transport and traffic data is on the increase but there must be an integrated data highway to derive the maximum ITS benefits, argues Deutsche Telekom. From public transport operators recording increasingly precise and comprehensive data on their vehicle’s position and driving behaviour to local authorities using RFID and video systems to control traffic on their streets and highways, the amount of traffic data is growing rapidly.
    Read More
  • UK ITS professionals doubt driverless car timescales
    February 6, 2018
    Only one member of ITS (UK) thinks that level five driverless cars will be on the country’s roads by 2021, as suggested by chancellor Philip Hammond in the autumn budget. The results showed a near 50/50 split between those who expect fully driverless cars to be available within 15 years and those who think it will take longer to become widespread.
    Read More
  • Avoiding the call of the wild
    June 29, 2018
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being
    Read More
  • TfL to launch world-leading trials of intelligent pedestrian crossing technology
    March 7, 2014
    The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and Transport for London (TfL) have outlined plans for trialling new pedestrian crossing sensors to help make it easier and safer for people to cross the road throughout the capital. The introduction of pedestrian Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique, or pedestrian SCOOT, is the first of its kind in the world and uses state-of-the-art video camera technology to automatically detect how many pedestrians are waiting at crossings. It enables the adjustment of traffi
    Read More

Highlighted Content