WSP to support UK roll-out of connected and autonomous vehicles
WSP has been commissioned by Highways England to drive forward its connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) programme over the next four years in a contract worth £1.5 million.
The programme is part of the DfT’s connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) strategy and Highways England’s Innovation Fund to help strengthen the UK as a global centre for the fast-growing intelligent mobility market, estimated to be worth £900 billion per year globally by 2025. It is a fundamental part of the UK Government’s Digital Strategy.
WSP will work closely with Highways England, the Department for Transport, and other transport authorities such as Transport for London and Kent County Council to roll-out a world class ecosystem for connected and autonomous vehicles across the UK. As part of this project, a team of specialists at WSP, supported by its supply chain partners, will provide a range of services including programme management, design of CAV technology solutions, vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications, system architecture design, data and cyber security solutions, trials evaluation, business case development, road safety case development, and data analysis and modelling.
WSP’s partners include KPMG, Actica, Horiba-MIRA, University of Bristol, White Willow Consulting, Thales, Harrod-Booth Consulting Ltd, University West of England, Cadzow Communications Consulting Ltd and Horsebridge Network Systems Ltd.
This latest appointment follows on from WSP’s successful work achieved on the A2/M2 London to Dover Connected Vehicle Corridor project where they have produced the outline system and infrastructure design to develop trial lifecycle costs, the UK Connected Intelligent Transport Environment where they designed the roadside infrastructure and are supporting the operational safety case, the Transport for West Midlands CAV strategy development, and the CAV technology trials with Somerset County Council.
Last year, WSP produced a report on autonomous vehicles and the development opportunities they could bring to cities, motorways, suburban and rural areas in collaboration with architects Farrells. The report signalled that roads would be cleaner, greener, and safer from road accidents, 90% of which are caused by driver error, and have the potential to free up to 15-20% developable land worth billions to build homes, workplaces and green spaces.
Shafiq Garda, Project Director – Intelligent Transport Services at WSP said: “We’re delighted that we have been appointed by Highways England and their CAV partners to be their Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Pilots Implementation Partner (CAV-PIP). This presents an excellent opportunity for WSP to play a major role in delivering this high-profile vision for the UK and be at the forefront of delivering leading edge transport technology,we look forward to exciting times ahead.”
