Ahead of Traffex next week, one of the event partners, WSP, discusses the key theme: ‘How technology is driving change on the network’.
One of the biggest areas of investment in the highways and transport sector being future mobility, it is only right we should consider in more detail the question: ‘How will technology change the way our road network operates in the future?’
WSP is a company at the forefront of developing platforms for technology to change the way we plan and manage our network. It is also interested in searching for new ways to connect people in the future, and that starts and finishes on the network.
‘There have been some significant change already,’ says Adrian Malone, head of digital project delivery at WSP.
‘Smart technology has played an important role in enabling that change. There is a whole set of new opportunities to make a difference to our core infrastructure, enabling us to focus on the customer in a more granular and targeted way,’ he adds.
This all starts with understanding the customer – for example road users, and the communities which are connected by the strategic road network. The importance of customer insight and customer-centric thinking should not be underestimated. When we combine this with the digital twin (an exact digital replica interconnected with the physical asset) we create the opportunity for both transport professionals and customers to make informed decisions which help people and goods get to their destinations safely, and have better journeys.’
The questions for many will be ‘what new technology to use and what is affordable for all?’
Mr Malone continues: ‘I think the answer is that technology must meet a genuine need today, but we also need to apply some future-ready thinking to anticipate future requirements.’
He feels this is largely driven by understanding what is needed on and for the network. ‘What do the travelling public need and how can we create better value for road users? What problems are we actually trying to solve? This is where there is a huge opportunity for us to use more digital technologies in the highways and transport industry – to help predict what challenges and opportunities are around the corner.
Of course, safety remains the number one priority at all times but creating a network that is efficient and effective and having the ability to use technology to optimise different outcomes based on the constraints of a scheme is also vital as our road network changes, and concepts like CAV become more of a reality,’ he adds.
WSP is exploring how virtual reality could be used in a project to ‘test drive’ smart motorway schemes. For example, a panel of lorry drivers could help as part of an early stage of customer insight around this work. Using a virtual simulation of the new smart motorway section created from the digital twin, the simulation might test how the flow of autonomous HGVs merging from the slip road with traffic on a planned smart motorway will work.
In this scenario the drivers connect their next-generation games console and virtual reality headset and open the simulation. Inside the virtual world they drive an exact replica of their truck (the inside of the cab was even 3D scanned to make the model feel realistic). As they drive, the simulation introduces other traffic, including autonomous HGVs merging from the new road.
Created from the digital twin, the simulation provides an exact mirror of what the new road and upgraded smart motorway will look like. The console and VR headset monitor every aspect of the participant’s driving, including their reaction to other vehicles and the road. Their eye movements, heart rate, and driving responses are all tracked. This rich source of data will be merged back into the digital twin and will help to iron out any usability issues in the next stage of the highway design.
‘Virtual reality has a very important role to play in this sector,’ says Mr Malone.
Another WSP concept is to explore how customers can benefit from self-aware infrastructure. In one scenario road users could register for trial of a new online system through a smart phone app providing rich journey information for planners to use in optimising the network.
Aggregated with other sources of data and harnessing the power of digital twin technology, this tool could offer additional customer insight with the potential to unlock new opportunities for the management and use of the network. For example, a planner could utilise a range of simulations in the digital model and identify options, which they would test to help improve the user’s journey each day. These might include changing the timing of traffic signals on other surrounding roads and, for example, slowing the traffic slightly on smart motorway sections to improve junction flows and the roads leading from slip roads.
The goal is to use new technologies to create efficiencies in delivery and also to deliver better journeys for customers.
Traffex19 and Parkex19 take place from 2-4 April at the NEC Birmingham. Both events are free to attend but visitors will need to register in advance.
