The Transport Research Laboratory ( TRL) will present findings from the UK’s platooning truck trials at the Microlise Transport Conference next month in the UK.
The presentation will include an assessment of the effects of fuel use, harmful tailpipe emissions, congestion and road safety.
The trial, according to Rob Wallis, TRL’s chief executive officer, aims to provide an independent impact assessment and to quantify possible benefits and drawbacks of the technology.
Wallis will provide an overview of the project, outlining the methodology and highlighting that safety is paramount, with strict criteria which must be met before testing and trials can take place on the UK’s strategic road network.
Highways England and the UK government’s Department for Transport appointed TRL to lead the trials in a live operating environment in August.
TRL was set up in 1933 as part of the government’s Transport Research Laboratory but was privatised in 1996. TRL has more than 1,000 clients in 145 countries, providing organisations with the evidence-based research into transport safety, vehicle engineering and simulation; investigations and major incident forensics as well as infrastructure asset management studies.
Organisers expect around 1,200 attendees at the event at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England. Other presentations include road investment strategies, clean air and low emission zones, the future of electric vehicles.
More information is available at the event website.
