Costain has won a contract to design, install and implement one of the UK’s first pilot connected vehicle corridors on a live road.

Under the contract awarded by Highways England, known as the A2M2 connected corridor, the smart infrastructure solutions company will also work with the Department for Transport, Transport for London (TfL) and Kent County Council to test the wireless transmission of data to and from travelling vehicles.

Trial vehicles will be fitted with onboard technology that will communicate with roadside units via ITS G5 wireless communication and with the service provider via cellular communication. 

This will convey information to the vehicle relating to road works, road conditions, temporary speed limits and the time remaining before a traffic light turns to green. 

This information could then be used by the vehicle to vary speed, for example.

Information from the contract will be used to develop connected vehicle standards and facilitate a widescale deployment of connected vehicle technology.

Andrew Wyllie, chief executive of Costain, said: “This is an important step in making our roads safer and improving journey time reliability by embracing cutting-edge technology.

“It is a further demonstration of Costain’s capability and we look forward to leading the way with the deployment and testing of this exciting technology.”

Mike Wilson, safety, engineering and standards executive director at Highways England, added: “Having the technology in place to allow vehicles to connect to each other and the road around them has the potential to improve journeys, making them safer and more reliable by providing real-time, personalised information directly to the driver. It could also help us manage traffic and respond to incidents.

"The A2/M2 trial will test and demonstrate how this may work in the real world. We are delighted to be jointly funding and part of this international project." 

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