Arcadis to provide connected and autonomous vehicle planning to Louisiana

Baton Rouge, La. — Arcadis U.S., Inc. contracted with the State of Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to provide technical support services and facilitate planning activities related to connected and autonomous vehicles and their impact on highway infrastructure. The purpose of the project is to keep Louisiana DOTD up to date on industry trends while preparing Louisiana for the future of transportation.

“By analyzing the latest technologies, emerging policy and legal framework as well as evolving big data impacts, our smart mobility experts can generate comprehensive strategies to aid state departments of transportation in creating safer roadways for the future while synchronizing existing and new infrastructure with connected and autonomous vehicles,” said Marwan Abboud, senior vice president for Traffic, Planning and Intelligent Systems at Arcadis. “We are excited that Louisiana has chosen to partner with Arcadis in developing proactive smart mobility plans that will incorporate the needs of commuters, freight delivery from ports, interstate drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and travelers across the state.”

The multi-year, $2 million contract for Arcadis includes developing the strategic implementation plan for connected and autonomous vehicle implementation with the Louisiana DOTD and performing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) architectures and system engineering analysis for connected and autonomous vehicles. The contract also covers providing similar services for transportation data mining and dissemination, electronic toll collection (ETC) systems, advanced traveler information systems (ATIS), and advanced transportation management systems (ATMS).

As part of the project, Arcadis will analyze emerging technologies in roadway infrastructure. For instance, cars, trucks and tractor trailers are expected to be manufactured with new connected technologies that allow them to instantaneously “talk” to one another as well as communicate with roadway infrastructure to alert drivers quickly to upcoming traffic hazards. Using vehicle-to-vehicle communications and Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) frequencies, connected vehicles traveling on specially equipped roadways can help save lives like previous automobile safety innovations such as air bags and seat belts. In fact, the National Highway Transportation Safety Alliance estimates that connected cars could reduce collisions by 80 percent for non-impaired operators.

Autonomous vehicles are self-driving vehicles equipped with sensors aided by laser-guided Lidar and radar to enable braking and lane changing decisions without driver involvement. They can also be supported by new technologies in transportation infrastructure such as transponders that send navigational information.

Arcadis has provided mobility services to the Louisiana DOTD, including planning, design and maintenance of intelligent transportation systems, for the last 15 years. As part of this new contract, Arcadis is partnering with California-based Iteris, Inc., and Texas-based Alliance Transportation Group, Inc.

Arcadis, along with HR&A Advisors and Sam Schwartz Consulting, issued a study in 2017 that reveals how the move to ridesharing and ridesourcing services could shift millions of drivers away from personal cars in major U.S. cities. Download “Driverless Future: A Policy Roadmap for City Leaders” at https://www.arcadis.com/en/united-states/our-perspectives/driverless-futureautonomous-vehicles-and-urban-policy.