The highways sector must stop treating connected vehicle services as a future aspiration and instead focus on scaling technologies that are already delivering operational benefits today, a Transport Technology Forum Live panel has concluded.
Experts from local government, consultancy and technology providers told delegates at the LCRIG Innovation and Learning Festival’s TTF Theatre that the challenge is no longer proving connected vehicle services work, but embedding them into everyday network management and building the skills and frameworks needed for wider deployment.
The discussion followed the Connected Vehicle Showcase demonstrated at TTF Live! in Leicestershire in March, where delegates experienced services including low bridge warnings, roadworks alerts, emergency vehicle notifications and asset monitoring delivered through a range of communications technologies.
Paul Darlow, Traffic and Network Manager at Portsmouth City Council, argued that authorities should not wait for large-scale connected vehicle deployments before beginning the work.
“We are poised and ready to deliver connected vehicle services and we’ve demonstrated stuff, but at the moment at scale that is just not available,” he said. “In the meantime, we are getting on and building stuff behind the scenes, connecting up our data, connecting data from our networks and other operators, and deploying network management services that help us manage our network better while we wait for connected vehicle services to come along.”
Mr Darlow explained how Portsmouth has used the same data infrastructure needed for connected vehicle services to solve existing network management challenges. One example involves monitoring ferry and hovercraft movements to the Isle of Wight using marine tracking data, enabling the authority to anticipate disruption before operators report problems and take action to manage traffic impacts on the city’s road network.
The panel also highlighted how authorities can gain value from vehicle-generated data today. Andy Graham, Director of White Willow Consulting who leads the TTF’s Connected Vehicle Services Interest Group, pointed to growing adoption of vehicle-based asset management technologies, where data collected from connected vehicles can identify road defects and maintenance issues in near real-time.
“We’ve had more pilots than British Airways in this area. We need to stop doing PowerPoints and pilots and stuff. We need to roll it out and scale, roll it out so it’s affordable, roll it out so that people don’t see it as being anything special.”
He noted that the Department for Transport-backed PAS 2161 standard now provides authorities with confidence in using vehicle-derived data for asset management purposes.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Mann, Technical Director at WSP, outlined work being undertaken with the Department for Transport and the Transport Technology Forum to develop a framework of priority connected vehicle services and ensure they are aligned with wider transport policy objectives.
He said local authorities had called for government leadership, clearer guidance and practical examples that demonstrate how connected vehicle services can help solve everyday transport challenges such as improving traffic flow, enhancing safety and supporting active travel.
The discussion also looked beyond the UK. Mohanad Ismail, Associate Director at WSP and Chair of the European Data for Road Safety initiative, urged authorities to learn from deployments already operating across Europe rather than continually starting from scratch.
“Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean creating something completely new,” he said. “Innovation is bringing something new into your organisation that it hasn’t had before.”
He highlighted examples where European road operators are already exchanging safety-critical data with vehicle manufacturers, creating services that warn drivers about hazards and improve network safety.
The panel suggested stronger collaboration between road operators and vehicle manufacturers will be crucial as connected services mature. Modern vehicles already generate extensive data through onboard sensors, creating opportunities for authorities to tackle challenges ranging from road safety to maintenance and traffic management.
KL Systems owner George Brown described how digital twin technologies could provide a scalable framework for deployment, allowing local authority networks to be modelled individually while being connected into a wider national ecosystem.
Looking ahead, speakers identified workforce skills, procurement barriers and the lack of a universal route into vehicle navigation systems as some of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption.
However, the overall message was clear: connected vehicle services are no longer a technology looking for a purpose. Instead, authorities are increasingly using the same data, digital twins and connected platforms to solve operational problems today, while laying the foundations for future services that could improve safety, reduce congestion and support the eventual rollout of automated vehicles.
(Picture – TTF – L-R Jonathan Mann, George Brown, Mohanad Ismail, Paul Darlow, Andy Graham)