A2/M2 connected corridor trial

17 October 2018

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or "the Group" or "the Company")

COSTAIN ENABLES MAJOR MILESTONE

FOR CONNECTED AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IN THE UK

Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company, provided the technology to power pioneering work led by Highways England to transform journeys with innovative technology allowing vehicles and the roads to 'talk' to each other which was showcased to an international audience last week.

A high-tech 'corridor' is being created on the A2/M2 in Kent to let specially-equipped test vehicles interact with roadside infrastructure in a move which promises safer, more reliable journeys and speedier maintenance, to reduce delays.

Highways England, the Department for Transport, Kent County Council and Transport for London staged a week-long event that attracted more than 60 people from the automobile world to allow them to understand the technology and see how it could be used in the construction of future vehicle designs.

Costain created the new and leading-edge intelligent system to allow a digital conversation to take place between the roadside infrastructure and the car and vice versa. During the tests information was communicated to the vehicle relating to road works, road conditions, temporary speed limits and the time remaining before a traffic light turns to green.

Simon Ellison, Group technology capability director, said, 

"This is an important step in making our roads safer and improving journey time reliability by embracing cutting edge technology. The technology advances achieved in such a short space of time truly demonstrate the power of collaboration."

Costain has brought together industry leading technology partners from across Europe and delivered an integrated end-to-end hybrid system and this has been exhaustively tested by a wide range of organisations at the test event.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The project on sections of the A2 and M2 is testing how information about road conditions, road works and time left for traffic lights to change to green can be transmitted to test vehicles via a wireless network.

Providing drivers and fleet managers with the information and tools to make real-time decisions has the potential to quickly improve traffic flow along the corridor. It also has the potential to improve safety by providing more information about traffic conditions ahead.

Displaying the information on screens inside vehicles reduces the likelihood of drivers missing information displayed on roadside signs, ending the problem of obscured signs caused by vegetation or when passing other vehicles.

For example, a sign may appear for a lane closure in place because of an accident or debris ahead. Keeping the lane clear gives the emergency services the access they need to help. Providing this information in a vehicle will help reduce drivers accidently driving in a closed lane, improving safety for everyone.

The A2/M2 Connected Corridor is a joint project between the Department for Transport, Highways England, Transport for London and Kent County Council. It is part of InterCor, an EU project that aims to test services that work across borders, connecting the UK to the Netherlands, France and Belgium. The project started in 2016 and is due to be completed in 2019.