Siemens ITS has installed its ESCoS roadside units (RSUs) as part of the second phase of the UK CITE project, which aims to create an advanced environment for testing connected and autonomous driving.

The second phase involves connected cars being tested on public roads and performing trials more than 40 miles of the M40, M42, A45 and A46 over a five-month period with the Siemens ITS RSUs.

RSUs provide the technical platform for real-time data exchange between vehicles and traffic control equipment, and communicate with enabled vehicles over short-range communications (ITS-G5).

This phase of the trial programme will involve testing of a number of connected features such as emergency electronic brake light warning, roadworks warning, traffic condition warning and virtual gantry signs.

In connection with this phase, Siemens has installed 35 RSUs across the M42 and M40 trial area, connected through Highways England’s National Road Telecommunications Services (NRTS) network, as well as 18 RSUs on the arterial routes, which are connected through a wireless mesh network.

“This deployment is the largest of its kind in the UK and should provide a good benchmark for the future of the technology.”

The road trial will involve the installation and verification of the roadside infrastructure in readiness for larger-scale infrastructure to vehicle communication.

It will inform road operators of the benefits of both the ITS-G5 and LTE 4G mobile network vehicle communications methods.

Siemens ITS senior product manager Gary Bray said: “This phase of testing is very exciting and vitally important, with the project effectively making the transition from a controlled environment to the real world as we test the capabilities of the connected network on the live highway.

“This deployment is the largest of its kind in the UK and should provide a good benchmark for the future of the technology.”

The UK CITE programme is expected to create the UK’s first fully connected infrastructure, using a combination of wireless technologies that can enable real-world testing in a safe and managed way.

The project is supported by the government’s £100m Connected and Autonomous Vehicle fund, delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

The project is worth a total of £7.1m, including investment from the Government and Highways England.

The first phase of the CITE programme continued till the end of 2016. It included the preparation of infrastructure on routes along the M40, M42, A46, and A45, as well as an urban route in Coventry.

It also included the preparation of a Vehicle, Systems and Gantry App, with the pre-test trials, which took place on HORIBA MIRA’s City Circuit.