AIVIA – Orchestrated Connected Corridors

AIVIA’s main goal is to set the standard for the infrastructure and technology of the future in which conventional, connected and autonomous vehicles can co-exist harmoniously and that the maximum benefits of those technologies can be leveraged to maximize safety and traffic flow on our highways.

The initiative is presently testing new ways to build and implement the physical and digital infrastructure needed for the highways of the future – making the most of innovations such as Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (CV2X), 5G, simulation technologies, advanced supervision and sensory technology to make roads more resilient.

AIVIA is aligned with Ferrovial’s Horizon-24 Plan, which aims to develop sustainable infrastructure with projects of high concession value, with North America being the key market for growth and development. The short term goal, partially achieved in 2023, was to apply all tested technologies on the I-66 corridor in Virginia to launch the first connected highway that shares safety information with vehicles and drivers real-time, with other assets following thereafter.

Testing Technologies and Providers

Cintra’s most prominent assets –  North Tarrant Express Highway in Dallas and 407 ETR at Great Toronto Area, are the test beds for AIVIA to test new physical and digital solutions with our partners (3M, Kapsch , Microsoft, Telefónica and CapGemini). We are presently testing various technologies and providers under real traffic conditions to ensure a best-in-class efficiency of infrastructure, sensing devices and monitoring systems.

•  In partnership with 3M, our teams are refurbishing segments of the road with a range of materials and solutions including retroreflective tape marking –  four to five times brighter than now and visible in all driving conditions, which will become crucial to guarantee safe operation of autonomous vehicles under all conditions.
• As per the sensing hardware, we’re deploying new intelligent equipment such as lidar, radar and machine vision solutions to detect everything that happens on the road. The newer technologies like radar and lidar come to help, and complement the gaps that cameras can’t cover.
• However, the best sensors of the future will be the cars themselves. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a must to extend our digital fingers to all corners of the road. Indeed, the capacity of self-powered & self-connected sensors and actuators will support the digitization of our Highways and is key for controlling some very local events like car breakdowns, hits on the barriers or ice on the road.
• New communications systems will be deployed and will become part of the standard designs of new highways. New radio units will be installed to receive information and status from vehicles and also to broadcast electronic safety messages to connected vehicles (C-V2X) in real time.
• Dynamic messaging signals displaying accurate information for drivers to be aware of any risk event downstream will be placed along the Highway for conventional vehicles turning our corridors into true – digital highways.

Many technologies are getting stressed under real traffic conditions, with the ultimate objective for AIVIA to select only the more reliable and scalable, which will finally integrate with the core of the system:  the software platform that orchestrates all vehicles by sharing the right information at the right moment with the right actors.   

How Does AIVIA Bring Value?

The AIVIA initiative is helping to maximize the utility that CAVs and other cutting edge technologies can bring while providing benefits for all road users of today. AIVIA aims to define the blueprint of the sustainable infrastructure of the future for mixed traffic, using cutting edge technology to make travel safer, journey times more reliable and adding value to highway users through enhanced connectivity and the services that come with it.