Cintra and Ferrovial Corporación have signed a collaboration agreement with the Galician Automobile Technology Centre (CTAG) to develop projects in connection with using autonomous vehicles in inter-city settings. Testing will take place in Portugal, on the Norte Litoral highway (managed by Cintra).
The challenges associated with automated driving affect both the vehicles and its technologies and the road infrastructures; the latter will have to evolve to meet the needs of next-generation vehicles.
This agreement provides for work such as:
- Adapt inter-city road infrastructures to the challenges associated with automated driving.
- Adapt inter-city road infrastructures so as to be able to apply cooperation communication systems between vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructures.
- Perform services from the infrastructure that are associated with automated and connected driving.
- Implement and deploy cooperative systems and automated driving aid systems in inter-city infrastructures.
- Carry out computer security protocols in communication between vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructures.
- Be joint participants in projects sponsored by domestic and European institutions with regard to inter-city road infrastructures so that automated vehicles can be used on them.
Develop the next pilots
As a result of this agreement, testing of autonomous vehicles is being prepared in sections of the Norte Litoral highway on the A27 between Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima. The first tests will be carried out in areas with no traffic by cutting off access to several kilometres of road.
The origins of the project
Ferrovial’s relationship with CTAG was born in 2014 with the innovation project “Connected Highway” (Autopista Conectada) which was presented by the work group at the 11th Executive Management Programme of Ferrovial’s Corporate University.
The project aimed to: analyse the progress of autonomous vehicles at the time; study the possible effects of using autonomous vehicles on highway concessions and public roads; and promote Ferrovial’s infrastructures as an appropriate and controlled setting for developing autonomous driving systems in both technical and legal terms.
Centro Tecnológico de Automoción de Galicia (CTAG)
CTAG is a world leader in automobile research, development and innovation and it has been recognised as a technology centre by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competition. It specialises in passive safety, materials, production processes, new drive systems, new emission reduction systems and transport electronics and smart systems. Its work is performed by more than 450 professionals in state-of-the-art facilities across more than 36,000 m2 of labs and test tracks.
