Transport for West Midlands and West Midlands 5G have launched the procurement process for a partner to design, build and install a sensor network for the West Midlands Key Route Network. Thanks to funding provided by the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), we are able to move this project forward and improve the region’s roads through the use of innovative technology.

The aim is to improve our modelling and real time management capability but also look at advanced use cases. Considerations include supporting connected / autonomous vehicles and using machine vision to get new insights on how vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists move through junctions. A key consideration is the use of new communications techniques such as 5G, NB-IOT and LTE-M.

We expect joint ventures or consortia including but not limited to sensor providers, design companies and communications providers. The value of this contract is circa £3 million and we expect to award early next year.

Find more information and apply to the selection questionnaire here (search for “5G enabled road sensing project” )