The Fosse Way, a high-injury corridor in Warwickshire, posed significant road safety challenges, with collisions spread across the network with no clear trends or patterns. Rising casualties, coupled with sparse collision data, limited Warwickshire County Council’s (WCC) ability to prioritise safety interventions effectively. 

To address this, Arcadis and Michelin collaborated with WCC to develop a pioneering, data-driven solution for safety evaluation and targeted mitigations. Central to this effort was a dynamic online decision-support tool powered by telematics, mobile phone data, and AI. This tool analysed near-miss events, driver behaviour (e.g., harsh braking and speeding) and road conditions, using machine learning to generate risk scores for specific road segments. It also visualised the trajectories and severity of driver mistakes, helping safety professionals at Arcadis and WCC to develop targeted mitigation measures. 

This approach enabled WCC to move beyond reliance on historical collision data, adopting proactive risk management strategies grounded in safe system principles. By identifying high-risk areas and focusing investments where risk likelihood and risk severity are highest, the solution maximised the impact of safety measures. In addition to addressing immediate challenges, the approach improved resource efficiency, diagnosis times, and overall decision-making processes. This demonstrated how digital transformation can lead to proactive risk management, and one of the potential roles for AI – when guided by safety expertise – as we move into a world with increasing volumes of data.

Alex Walton, Innovation Director, Arcadis

Alex Walton serves as Innovation Director within Arcadis' Mobility Business, overseeing a portfolio encompassing data products and ecosystem partnerships.

He started his career as a transportation planner / traffic engineer, working on major projects such as the 2012 London Olympic Games, developing transport strategies and models, and undertaking road safety audits. He led the development of Arcadis’ highways & transportation capabilities in India, and later established Arcadis’ data analytics and software engineering global excellence centre.

Alex has been instrumental in driving Arcadis' digital transformation by amalgamating the firm's asset knowledge with the data expertise of its developers and partners.