Connected and Automated Vehicles

The introduction of connected and automated vehicle (C/AV) technologies and technology-driven mobility services, such as private companies providing ride hailing and car sharing services, present great opportunities and challenges for government. We partner with state and local transportation agencies to determine where they are today and where they want to go with respect to these advancing transportation technologies. We offer strategic and operational guidance covering several key areas, including:

• Current state of C/AV technology, new mobility services and associated activities
• Public-private partnerships for pilot testing and technology development
• Legislation and regulation at the local, regional and federal levels
• Long-range policies and plans, supporting strategic, financial and operations planning
• C/AV integration into concept of operations for next-generation operational strategies, including managed lanes, active traffic management and toll operations

Specialized Services

We offer a wide range of services related to C/AV and changing mobility strategies and their impact on government agencies, including:

• Policy and Planning
• New Mobility Services
• Technology Research, Planning and Integration

 C/AV technologies and new mobility services are happening now and they’re challenging decades of standing policies, and the foundational assumptions with which we carry out long-range planning. They are creating great uncertainty with regards to future travel demand, travel behavior, and transportation system capacity and safety.

While these dramatic changes are uncertain, our traditional planning strategies, representing millions or billions of dollars in long-term investments, can no longer ignore these implications. Through internal and external research and process development, we are establishing methods to help agencies proactively develop policies and evaluate scenarios for various advanced technology futures.

New Mobility Services

New mobility services are rapidly emerging in cities around the United States. Examples include ride hailing, ride sharing, new modes of transportation (e.g., bike share) and new technologies (e.g., Hyperloop). Ultimately, autonomous vehicles will become a part of these new mobility service offerings by the private sector.

Our team brings together a unique combination of experience in transportation demand management, advanced technologies and public private partnerships to offer solutions that inform policy, plans, business strategy and operations with a deep understanding of both the public and private interests. We can outline best practices; establish pilots with clear goals and performance metrics; establish data privacy, data collection and data sharing agreements; update plans and operational strategies; conduct cost-benefit analyses of new mobility services and alternatives; and provide implementation planning and support.

Technology, Research, Planning and Integration

We advise transportation agencies on the development of infrastructure to accommodate connected vehicles. This includes:

• Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Management: We support agencies with developing roadmaps for CV deployment, and positioning organizations to take advantage of these systems to help meet agency objectives.
• Roadside Infrastructure Deployment: We design and deploy dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) roadside infrastructure, and work with vendors and telecommunications specialists to implement DSRC networks.
• Telecommunications Expertise: We offer telecommunications expertise in support of DSRC backhaul infrastructure, as well as for other C/AV applications that require a telecommunications backbone.
• Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) Applications: We enable messaging capabilities and data integration to support V2I applications, such as traffic signal-based messaging and integration with transit service applications.
• Data Management, Warehousing and Integration: We help to manage large volumes of data from connected vehicles and translate that data into usable information for transportation management centers and/or agency-specific applications.
• Asset and Configuration Management: We assist in deploying emerging technologies while being mindful of performance management tracking, ensuring that equipment functions as planned and can expand as needed.

WSP works closely with key players across the world to better understand the potential impact of new mobility on local environments. We consulted with state and local transportation agencies to determine where they are today and where they want these advancing transportation technologies to enable them to deliver their services in the future.

We carried out extensive interviews with international industry experts and combined these insights with learnings drawn from dozens of our projects. WSP’s team is involved in testing and implementing a multitude of new technologies; working with several of the new business models already in operation.

Launched in October 2017, our ground-breaking whitepaper New Mobility Now: a Practical Guide brings new insights to mobility issues.

“The opportunity offered by New Mobility is significant and highly valuable, particularly to city and area leaders, place-makers, transport network owners, mobility and technology providers,” says David McAlister, WSP Global Director, Transport and Infrastructure.