Digital transformation for the UK strategic road network

Our digital consultancy is guiding National Highways’ Digital Roads vision, which uses data, technology and connectivity to make roads safer, improve customer experience, increase productivity and cut carbon.

Location

United Kingdom

Client

National Highways

Project Status

Ongoing

Around the world, highway operators face similar challenges. After years of improvement, levels of death and serious injury on roads are plateauing. Net zero ambitions highlight the need to reduce emissions and embodied carbon across transportation. And customers demand more from the road network, while operators are under pressure to improve productivity.

Bringing together initiatives from across the organisation, Digital Roads is National Highways’ response to these challenges. Digital Roads will harness data, technology and connectivity to improve the way the strategic road network is designed, built, operated and used.

In collaboration with National Highways, we co-developed a vision for Digital Roads that covers the lifecycle of the strategic road network: design and construction, digital operations and digital for customers. These illustrate how National Highways will drive digital, data and technology opportunities throughout the organisation.

Design and construction

Our activities will be increasingly automated, modular and conducted off site, resulting in safer production, reduced disruption, increased productivity and smoother journeys.

In practice

WSP is working with National Highways to digitise standards and embed tools to help automate design processes, adopt off-site manufacturing and use connected and autonomous plant. As well as improving productivity, these approaches reduce waste and emissions from construction activities.

Digital operations

Our operations will leverage data to drive increasingly pre-emptive interventions – resulting in improved asset resilience, increased asset life and a safer, smoother running network.

In practice

We’re exploring how a digital twin that ensures data from design and construction flows into the systems used to manage road network assets could improve efficiency and reduce disruption. In addition, through a joint venture, WSP developed, deployed and now operates the National Traffic Information Service (NTIS). This feeds information from 7,000km of roads into the National Traffic Operations Centre to keep people informed of what’s happening on the network and keep traffic flowing smoothly, reducing emissions.

Digital for customers

Our customers will be better informed and have trust in the journey information they access, ensuring that they feel safe and in control of their journeys.

In practice

Information displayed directly inside vehicles empowers people to make better-informed choices about their journeys. Digital technology has the power to make this happen, through connected corridors where vehicles can interact with roadside infrastructure to improve safety and traffic flow. We were part of the team behind the A2M2 Connected Corridor, the first interoperable connected corridor in Europe.

The long-term vision for 2050 we set out recognises UK digital, data and technology trends such as connected and autonomous vehicles and the electrification of transport to help achieve both vision zero and net zero. We also created a nearer-term vision for 2025, which was launched in 2021. And now we are supporting National Highways with a vision for 2025-30 as we continue to drive their digital transformation forward.