Unmanned truck traffic launched down the Central Ring Road

A ceremony was held in Moscow Oblast inaugurating the launch of self-driving vehicles down the Central Ring Road (CRR). The train of self-driving semis was launched by Russia's First Deputy Transport Minister Valentin Ivanov. The event was also attended by Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chair of the Board of the Russian Highways State Company, Nikolay Sheyukhin, First Deputy Head of the State Department of Road Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and Ilya Sattarov, Director General of NATCAR.
The safe journey of highly automated vehicles is ensured by a cutting-edge automated traffic management system (ATMS). This is a key element of the Russian Highways' expressway infrastructure. At present, there are over 250 cameras operating on the Central Ring Road, and almost every one of them is fitted with automatic accident detection modules. Furthermore, the expressway features over 300 vehicle detectors and about 250 electronic signs and message boards.
The high level of intelligent transportation systems the Russian Highways State Company equipped their expressway with contributes to the advent of self-driving vehicles. Thus, the automated traffic management system guides the progress of autonomous vehicles along the M-11 "Neva". The road from Moscow to St. Petersburg is monitored by more than 800 cameras, over 500 vehicle detectors, about 600 electronic signs and message boards.
To recap, the unmanned trucks operation down the M-11 Neva started in June 2023. At that time, the first highly automated transport vehicles (HATS) began carrying freight to Moscow. In September 2024, the unmanned vehicle traffic was already launched along the entire length of the highway.
According to Vyacheslav Petushenko, Chair of the Board of the Russian Highways State Company, a high level of safety of travel along the expressways is ensured, among other things, through the use of intelligent transportation systems.
"We apply innovative technologies at every stage of the motorway lifecycle. This enables us to maintain a safe and comfortable road infrastructure. The use of digital solutions makes our highways "smart", which creates the necessary conditions to introduce self-driving vehicle traffic. In future, it is planned to launch such traffic down the M-12 "Vostok" too. This will provide a continuous route for unmanned vehicles from St. Petersburg to Kazan without a single traffic light," stressed Vyacheslav Petushenko.
Extra convenience for unmanned vehicles is created by the "Free Flow" system functioning across the Central Ring Road. There are no barriers on this road, which means there is no need to drop speed or engage a remote operator of a self-driving car when it passes toll booths. The M-12 "Vostok" expressway features a similar advantage.
Moreover, during the construction of the M-11 "Neva", the Central Ring Road and the M-12 "Vostok", the Russian Highways State Company envisaged dedicated sites, as well as the power supply for the equipment of mobile carriers. This allowed to promptly deploy their equipment with the start of traffic and fulfill the President's instruction to organize cellular communication along the newly constructed highways.