Agenda

• When announced, Road Investment Strategy 2 committed the Government to spend up to £27.4 billion in 2020-25, increasing road capacity and improving quality, and reducing the impacts of the existing strategic road network (SRN). How has National Highways dealt with the challenges of delivering RIS2?
• The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) will cover the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030. What are the priorities for the SRN over this period and beyond?

• The world of procurement is changing rapidly. What are the coming challenges that supply chain companies need to be ready for?

• These are ‘interesting times’ for those charged with deciding how much money our roads need and what, exactly, that money should be spent on
• Late last year Professor Glenn Lyons gathered a group of knowledgeable people to review the many and various issues in play and bring them together in the form of a set of key questions
• Steve Gooding, co-convenor of the group, will present resulting findings

• Outline of Active travel England vision and functions
• How ATE will raise standards and deliver quality infrastructure
• Working together to transform walking, wheeling and cycling

• Unpacking the implications of the moral standpoint that road casualties should not be an accepted by product of mobility
• How a Safe System will help us achieve vision zero
• Some of the challenges with implementing a Safe System and how we may need to change our decision making

• What can we learn from the smart motorway journey to date, and how can we apply these learnings to make improvements or changes?
• Why did drivers lack confidence in the concept, and can this ever be fully addressed?
• What are the other alternatives to adding capacity and reducing congestion on the motorways, and how can technology play its part?
• What safety improvements could be made to existing smart motorways?

• What solutions can be employed to address the high concentration of death and serious injury on A Roads
• How can technology play a part?
• Cyclists and pedestrians are among the most vulnerable of all road-users and are involved in as many as 50% of collisions on some of Britain’s most dangerous roads. What can be done to boost safety and in turn, active travel uptake on these roads?

• Considering future investments and decisions to ensure infrastructure not only provides the basics for the economy, but also actively supports the long-term national interests.
• How can investment plans provide greater certainty for Local Transport and Highway Authorities to deliver complementary investment?

• Britain introduced its road numbering system 100 years ago, designating A and B-roads. Why are they still important to the strategic road network?

• How can we harness data, technology and connectivity to improve the way local roads are designed, built, operated and used?
• What data is being produced and how can it best be utilised? Can we unlock further data sources?
• What are the potential benefits from the better use of road data?

• Development of a Digital Twin to report on real time multi modal road network performance in London as part of TfL’s Surface Intelligent Transport Systems programme
• Will cover business requirements, development of the Digital Twin, insights and next steps

• The Association for Road Traffic Safety and Management, ARTSM, has announced that the new Guidance for Use of Portable Signs is well on its way to publication.
• This will replace the DfT Pink Book and will be available via ARTSM website.
• The organisation says it hopes to go live in June, and Traffex 2023 represents a great chance to learn about the key changes.

• Key challenges in 2023/24
• "Digging Down to Level Up"
• How the industry can move forward
• HAUC Vision: where to focus?

• In this presentation, we will delve into the most recent statistical data surrounding HSE, skill shortages, new talent entering the industry, wages, material costs, and carbon emissions. We will also examine how Re-flow is adapting to meet the ever-evolving demands of the industry through the implementation of new features and processes.
• By joining us, you will gain insights into how innovative digital solutions can help refine and optimize field operations, and how the benefits allow businesses to become more sustainable and resilient in the face of looming industry challenges.

• The typical data landscape around roads is multi-domain, multi-modal, complex, and inhomogeneous. Cameras, loops, computer vision algorithms, weather stations, connected vehicles and social media generate hundreds of millions of data points every single day.
• It is an impossible task for traffic controllers to grasp what's noise and what's actually insightful and actionable, let alone maintain good situational awareness in real-time.
• In this presentation, we will show you in detail how we use a combination of machine learning and expert system techniques to extract the best from each data sources and combine them optimally to remove noise.
• Using a few real examples on our road, we show how we piece together a comprehensive understanding of when and where accidents happen, as well as their real-time impact on the road.

• Nick and Andrea will take us through how data and digitisation are revolutionising traffic and parking projects through all stages including engagement, data collection and enforcement.

• The Transport Technology Forum has been running for several years, bringing technology developers and suppliers together with their prospective highway authority customers
• In this session TTF chair Steve Gooding will explain what the TTF is about – who is it aimed at and what is it for?

• Moves to encourage active travel and reduce carbon in urban centres have created an increased need for active travel lanes, EV charging and kerbside deliveries.
• But how can these users and their associated spaces be properly managed?

• The DfT has recently produced guidance on the procurement and use of technology by road authorities. Working with the Connected Places Catapult, it has released the frst issue of the Manual for Smart Streets, an interactive web resource hosted by the Transport Technology Forum (www.ttf.uk.net).
• It provides local authorities and others working the sector clear guidance for the use of technology to meet the coming challenges faced by local road operators.
• Darren will outline the aims of the project and the ways in which MfSS and the wider support from TTF can assist in the use of new and emerging technologies to meet the operational and policy challenges the sector faces.

• The DfT is hard at work with stakeholders to digitise the UK's road network
• Come and hear about the latest plans for bringing Traffic Regulation Orders into the modern age

• Giles will discuss the need to consider the move to electric traction within the wider system of modes, services and supporting infrastructure and highlight how considering the system as a whole can deliver wider benefits

• Building a strategy – involving others and understanding what is possible
• Solutions for those without their own driveway
  o Hubs
  o Kerbside domestic energy solutions
• What’s next? The next challenges we face – and some possible solutions.

• Providing Nottingham City Council’s experience of building an EV charging network including the challenges, how to overcome them and the opportunities presented by working in partnership with other public sector organisations.

• What is the state of play with roadside charging infrastructure, and what does the future hold?

• What are the key challenges hindering the growth of EV charging infrastructure around the world?
• Dunstan Power will look at the current state of EV charging, exploring the obstacles faced by charging station providers - with insights on factors such as standardisation, charger availability, high costs, and more.
• Dunstan will also examine potential solutions to these challenges and explore ways to make EV charging more accessible and efficient. Join Dunstan as he covers the pressing global issues facing the EV charging industry today.

• The presentation will cover turning surface carparks into secure EV charging and storage carparks for local residents
• As well as, solutions to provide local residents with secure EV charging space out of normal trading hours, generating additional revenue

• Helping more people switch to EVs sooner with easier, cheaper, greener public charging

• The UK Government has set an ambitious target of 99% for charger availability and achieving this will be just as important as installing new chargers to meet EV driver demand and support EV adoption
• Yunex Traffic considers what it will take to ensure the EV charging infrastructure deployed across the UK is reliable and available, and not only fit for purpose, but fully optimised, providing the travelling public the confidence to move to EVs and ensuring maximum return on CPO investment.

• Making the mission matter – the importance of being aligned around our social purpose
• Measure what you value – making wellbeing measurable and movable
• Raising the bar – creating space for challenge and accountability
• Curiosity at the edges – how intentional collaboration drives an innovative culture
• Building community amid diversity – when fun is quite literally ‘baked in’

• Asset performance data can be challenging to manage and analyse.
• To enhance the process Atkins developed Theia, a computer vision platform which automates the analysis of asset survey data
• The tool processes optical survey data, identifies and categorises distresses and reports features of interest and trends in asset behaviour

• An award-winning partnership (Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Highways Ltd, Arcadis, Kier Highways, Tarmac, HTM & WJ) delivered an ambitious £50m Capital Investment Programme to manage and implement carriageway and footway improvements across the city, improving thecondition of the network and making a positive impact on the the community

• Recognised for innovation, the project involved rebuilding a collapsed retaining wall between Bollin Grove and the River Bollin, in Prestbury
• To carry out the work in dry conditions, a highly innovative solution was required to carry the diverted River Bollin and a dammed river upstream

• Regent Street Flyover, which carries the A64(M) motorway over the A61 dual carriageway in Leeds, was constructed in the 1960’s and had reached the end of its useable life
• This design and build project (WSP and Balfour Beatty) involved complex demolition and reconstruction within a politically sensitive city centre environment
• The new flyover was completed in November 2022 and is now a striking piece of infrastructure within the city centre of Leeds, facilitating over 70,000 vehicle journeys per day.

• The RDP A585 Windy Harbour Integrated Project Team (IPT) is currently constructing a 5km offline bypass to remove a major bottleneck and improve the highways network around the village of Little Singleton in Lancashire
• The IPT, which also comprises National Highways, established its own project vision, values and behaviours

• Now constructed, the scheme is the largest segregated cycle route in Stockport and will be used as a ‘proof of concept’ to help make the case for further such infrastructure • The scheme has been designed to connect local neighbourhoods and support a range of trips – particularly commuter travel and journeys to the local secondary schools

• An insight into the work of the RSTA in understanding the carbon calculations for each of the surface treatments used as part of a proactive asset management strategy

• What are the current and next-generation sustainable asphalt offerings?
• As suppliers accelerate innovation to meet industry and public sustainability demands, how are specifications supporting or inhibiting progress, and what can be done to reduce the perceived barriers to embrace the benefits of innovation?

• In 2021, the DfT issued a challenge to local authorities to bid for funding to upgrade traffic signals. This funding allocation, of £15m was innovative in the way it challenged authorities to think not only about the immediate needs maintaining their assets but also the longer term aims of technology.
• The 39 successful authorities who each received grants of £500,000 or £250,000 were the ones that demonstrated a clear technology vision and an understanding of the role of traffic signalling and control in a modern road network.
• Now the programme has completed, Darren will offer an assessment of it’s success and the degree it has achieved it’s aims of improving traffic signal equipment in England and help local authorities to prepare for the future. He will also discuss the DfT’s view of this programme and it’s likely impact on future funding opportunities.

• There are many ways in which our industry can reduce our carbon impact but durable, longer lasting pavements should be a basic principle of sustainability
• Longer life starts at design stage, through construction with timely maintenance interventions, using appropriate methods, materials and skills.

• A databased-approach to legislation and safety for micromobility

• The story of how Staffordshire Council worked with NOW Wireless to improve air quality outside a care home on the inner ring road of Newcastle-Under-Lyme, proposing artificial intelligence to predict pollution an hour ahead of time
• The results implemented special plans into SCC’s TMS system, which enabled traffic to be gated outside the town centre
• This paper will explain the detail of the delivery of the project, highlight the results of a positive reduction in air quality and explain how SCC plan to implement this in other towns within the county.

• We will explore the current state and architecture of urban systems, and how authorities can better plan for a connected future
• We will explore the benefits of the shift to Private and Public cloud, and the trends around this including protecting your organisation against cyber security risks
• Finally we will look at the coming together of multiple systems, and how the aggregation of assets and data support the effective management of transport networks. We will use SWARCO's MyCity journey as a case study around this

• What are the funding implications for road development and maintenance and for other essential public services of decreased revenue from vehicle excise duty and fuel duty?
• What system(s) might best promote fairness and public acceptance?
• How can alternative road pricing mechanisms be delivered alongside devolved local road charging schemes, while respecting the existing devolution settlement?

• Review of the current arrangements for highway risk and liability
• Examining claims and the effect of new technology on the inspection process
• The risk based apraoch to service delivery; the jury's still out

• With more longer-term highway maintenance and framework contracts being delivered, how do the client and contractor solve disputes at different stages of the contracts, and how can such risk be minimised in the first place?
• This session will also focus on this, as well as cost management, quantity surveying, and project and risk management

• Do we need to change the way we train and educate people?
• How do we grab the interest of young people from an early age?
• Age retention and the use of professionals in their 50s and 60s is a goal but how do we make sure the skillsets at that level are used appropriately?

• An ambitious programme putting roads at the heart of Britain’s net-zero future
• Covering: Net zero for National Highways’ own operations by 2030; Net zero for maintenance and construction in the supply chain by 2040; and Net zero carbon travel on our roads by 2050

• Discussing government targets and how these can be met
• How is decarbonisation influencing the decision-making process in projects?
• What are the barriers to change?
• How can different procurement models enhance decarbonisation?
• Are next-gen materials and practices being used to their fullest potential?

• Intelligent transport systems are increasingly being seen as a tool not just to deliver efficiency and safety, but also to reduce carbon emissions from our road network.

• This presentation will explore the role of transport technology in making better use of current infrastructure assets, incentivising greener behaviours and reducing congestion on key roads, ultimately helping the UK achieve its Net Zero aims.

• What we be done to enhance the environment for people living and working close to the road network?
• How can environmental improvement make a difference in areas such as noise reduction, flood resilience, and better air quality?
• What environmental considerations need to be central during the design phase of projects?
• How does asset knowledge play a role in the decision-making process?
• What measures are needed to track and monitor the impact of construction and maintenance activities?

• Recognised for helping make improvements to site safety, the project saw collaboration between Essex Highways, Ringway Jacobs and Eurovia

• The world's first distracted driving programs have now been operational in Australia for a number of years, using the ‘Heads-Up’ system from Acusensus, based on AI driven camera technology. 
• The learning from these pioneering schemes has now been evaluated in the UK, with more than 70 trial schemes run to date across England.
• The technology has already won the ‘Intertraffic Inspiration Award’ 2022' and ‘ITS UK Enforcement Scheme of the Year Award 2022'.

• Live Labs 2 is a three-year, £30million, UK-wide programme funded by the Department for Transport that will run until March 2026, with a five-year subsequent, extended monitoring and evaluation period
• Seven projects, grouped by four interconnected themes, are being led by local authorities working alongside commercial and academic partners
• Traffex will host some of the winning pitches across the four themes, providing updates on progress to date

• Providing a centralised hub for research and innovation for the decarbonisation of local roads materials, developing a knowledge bank, real-life conditions testing and sharing and learning insights

• A suite of corridor and place-based decarbonisation interventions covering urban through to rural applications, trailing, testing and showcasing applications within the circular economy and localism agendas

• Examining the role that the non-operational highways ‘green’ asset can play in providing a source of materials and fuels to decarbonise highway operations

• A systems-based examination of the future of lighting for local roads to determine what assets are needed for our future networks and how they can be further decarbonised across their lifecycle

• How can the recent advances in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision be used to boost Vision Zero programs globally?
• In this talk, Sohaib Khan, CEO of Hazen.ai, will discuss how major causes of fatalities, including distracted driving, reckless driving, unsafe road design, and failure to use safety measures, can be measured and mitigated using intelligent video analytics systems, and why this can be a game changer for traffic safety programs worldwide. 
  
  

• The Ripple Greenway is a 1.3km linear park that provides a green route to school and work for thousands of people in Barking and Dagenham has been awarded the CIHT's, Creating Better Places award. 

• This presentation will examine

  • Background to the project
  • Co-design approach to developing the project
  • Partnerships and delivery
  • Legacy

• Accommodating an effective charging infrastructure that provides equality of access for those without driveways.
• Understanding PAS 1899 for on-street and off-street provision
• Procurement guidance
• BPA standards and accreditations
• Understanding the hazards of poor parking management of e-bike hire schemes for blind pedestrians.

• Data standards and interoperability
• Learning from our European partners
• Stakeholder engagement and collaboration
• Enforcement strategies and compliance solutions

• Support business planning with data insights and tools
• Preparing for future legislation
• Guidance for meeting current standards
• Funding models for EV Infrastructure
• Public/private sector collaboration
• Community charging and rural locations

• Mobility Hubs
• Sustainable charging solutions
• Fleet electrification strategy
• Last mile delivery and PLVs
• EV weights and fire safety in multi-storey car parks

• The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project is one of the most critical road upgrades in the north of England. It will reconnect communities and links villages along the route while also improving connections for people living and working nearby, providing better access to services such as healthcare, jobs and education.

• The project will involve upgrading single carriageway sections of road to dual carriageway standard and making improvements to the junctions along the route

• This presentation will look at how digital tools are helping plan this landmark project 

• A principal research theme of the FHRG is climate change, including the measurement, reporting and reduction of carbon emissions across LHA supply chains
• Currently, a lack of standardisation in the UK highways sector has led to highly fragmented approaches to carbon measurement, carbon accounting and carbon reduction
• As a response, the FHRG is developing the Carbon Calculation & Accounting Standard (CCAS) as step-by-step guidance for FHRG and ADEPT members.
• Moreover, to assist LHAs in calculating their carbon footprints, the FHRG has developed Carbon Analyser; a research-led, web-based carbon profile builder and carbon analysis toolkit, tailored specifically for highways services
• This session will also provide a demonstration of this toolkit and the Microsoft Azure Carbon Database, an online repository of carbon data used for analysis and benchmarking with the UK highways sector.

• Kier Pathways is Kier Highways’ answer to addressing the skills gap facing the industry. It has created a framework of programmes designed to create a workforce reflective of the community it serves – and has carefully built pathways that consider each step towards a fulfilling career in the industry.
• It takes a holistic approach to individuals’ development, which is built into their recruitment, onboarding and wellbeing infrastructure.
• Kier Highways has been engaging with prisons since 2016, and has continually refined its offering to support prison leavers through its award-winning “Making Ground” scheme. It collaborates with prisons to provide a wide range of routes into the industry – and is one of the first employers in England to offer apprenticeship opportunities to prisoners, following a crucial law change.
• Vicki discusses how it’s breaking down barriers to create opportunities for all, and collaborates with organisations that share its values to create a significant, positive community impact.

• What does it mean to build social value into every aspect of the network?
• What are some examples of social value across the network?

• Paula will be talking about the research work LCRIG is doing with Innovate UK, DfT, and the Transport Technology Forum
• If we are to have a future transport system that is accessible and sustainable, we need to utilise data, research, and insights to do this
• It is not enough to “hope” that our transport systems are inclusive. To this end, Paula will be highlighting the work of the EDI project, learnings to date and how decarbonised transport systems will also need to be inclusive.

An update on different strands of work behind the ongoing plan: Shaping places for thriving communities

• Safer Drivers, Safer Vehicles and Safer Journeys. Some organisations have good policies in relation to all three, but all too often policy and practice do not align
• What can be defined as best practice?

• What can be learned from the rural bus strategies in other countries?
• How can deliveries help people live without cars in rural areas?
• What role can active travel planning play?

• How do we ensure the roll out of demand responsive transport operations in rural areas? What are the benefits of doing so?
• Will DRT services be commercially reliable? Should they need to be?
• How do we ensure we have the services required to decarbonise rural transport?

• What are the challenges face by bus operators in a post-Covid world?
• How does this differ over a range of local authorities and demographics?
• How can working in partnership help overcome some of the challenges to open up possibilities for the future?

• Meaningful engagement with the local community, including under-represented groups, is one of the key challenges when delivering area wide schemes.
• Community co-design enables the meaningful wider transformation of the streets and places that people use from cleaning the air we breathe to making the roads safer to enable people of all ages to live, work and play.
• This presentation will explore amplifying voices of communities and being led by the issues they face in order to make real changes to the way people move.

• Hardscape’s Founding Director, Mathew Haslam, shares his passion of the systematic approach of the ‘Dutch Way’ of providing ‘Duurzaam Velig’ (Sustainable Safety).
• Combining functionality, homogeneity, predictability and ‘forgiveness’ by using form and function of paving and associated elements, they create a language of change in habit and non-inclusive practices by removing the dominance of the car.
• As the demand to reach those same goals begins to reach across Europe - is the UK ready to go Dutch?

Active travel schemes are being rolled out across the UK bringing about changes to the design of bus stops which are not safe and not accessible for blind and visually impaired bus passengers. The presentation will use film followed by Q & A to show why the use of floating bus stops and shared use bus boarders are hard wiring discrimination into active travel schemes.

• Working in collaboration with Connected Places Catapult, National Highways launched a competition last year to find new or existing technology, products or solutions that can make a positive difference to people’s experience of roadworks, whether they are driving through the roadworks or living nearby
• Each of the winners has now received £15,000 to develop their ideas which will help take the sting out of roadworks for drivers, local businesses and communities
• David will introduce projects ranging from a digital twin system to a centralised hub for engagement with road users and video analytics software for insight on roadwork experiences
• The winning projects on hand to delve deeper into the projects and the progress made to date are: Emu Analytics, Immense Simulations, RoboK, and Wordnerds 

• Neil will be discussing an innovative solution to address problems that affects the health, economy and the environment caused by the growing and expanding urban set up as more people lives in cities, congestion increases as well as CO2 emissions.
• As the freight and servicing sector keeps cities working and businesses thriving, it is crucial to mitigate the negative effects of freight, and initiatives implemented and scaled up to reduce emissions, road risk, congestion and miles travelled by freight sector vehicles. ​
• A live pilot project will also be demonstrated showing how kerbside management can enable successful cross-modal logistics transfer allowing faster adoption of zero-carbon last mile delivery modes for greener and more sustainable operations. Grid Smarter Cities was awarded “Project of the Year” at the ITS UK Awards last year.

• The A10 in Enfield was a pioneering scheme in many ways. Developed and installed at short notice for Transport for London, to fulfil an urgent requirement, it was entirely installed to existing street furniture using stub brackets.
• The project won the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation Road Safety Award.

• Winner of the CIHT Infrastructure Award in 2022. This project was recognised for exceptional engineering solutions that have delivered creative and resilient infrastructure.
• When the Clifton Bridge, outside Nottingham, underwent scheduled inspection in 2019, engineers identified some basic maintenance was required, involving drainage and basic concrete repairs. The process of carrying out those repairs on the 243-metre viaduct in 2020, however, revealed further, more serious problems once concrete was removed. 
• This presentation will delve into how different stages and phases were overlapped to enable the project to be delivered in less time. Designers worked alongside contractors to design parts of the project while something else was built. 
• This streamlining of processes enabled the bridge to be safely and rapidly repaired, meaning Nottingham’s reputation as Europe’s most congested city was short lived. 

• What are the benefits of a crowd sourced solution?
• How do users gain maximum benefits?
• Can the data be easily integrated into other platforms?

• An overview of the use of 77Ghz 4D/UHD smartmicro radars to classify and collect cycle and pedestrian data at a number of Active Travel sites. Data is aggregated within the Novus data aggregator and displayed on the Ipsum Traffic back office software for use by planners and others.
• Winner of the ITS (UK) Active Travel Award

• In 1953 the first patent for a Traffic Cone was granted and in 1963 the Worboys report granted Cones official status as Traffic Signs in Britain.
• This year is therefore a double anniversary year for the humble Traffic Cone, which has become an indispensable, ubiquitous feature of life on the roads in the UK and internationally and become something of a cultural icon.
• Traffex has seen the launch of many of these innovations and it is fitting therefore to celebrate the role of Traffic Cones and launch the anniversary year of the Traffic Cone at Traffex.
• The presentation will canter through eight decades of innovation, in an informed and irreverent style and speculate as to what innovation the future might hold for the Traffic Cone and roadworker safety in an autonomous, connected, digital road world.

• Overview of EV / charging trends at global / UK level
• Consolidation in EV charging
• UK EV charging value chain
• Challenges and opportunities for EV charging in UK
• Outlook for fleet decarbonisation 

• How has Coventry City developed the largest charging network in the UK
• What have been the approaches taken to procurement and funding to get it there
• What have been the challenges, and how have they been overcome?

• A summary of enablers and game changers needed to make the charging eco-system as frictionless as possible for customers

• What steps need to be taken to expand the charge point network?
• What of the relevant legislation around charge points?
• How can expansion be undertaken in a socially equitable manner, taking into account socio-economic disparities across the country as well as disabled road users?

• The Transport Technology Forum’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Working Group is committing to producing further guidance designed to help council officers’ rollout the required infrastructure to keep pace with the adoption of Electric Vehicles.