Skip to main content

Yunex UTC-UX system rolled out across London

Urban traffic control system operation supports over 15,000 Scoot links in UK capital
By Adam Hill June 7, 2024 Read time: 2 mins
UTC-UX manages and controls all of the UK capital's 5,500 traffic signal sites (© Dan Talson | Dreamstime.com)

Yunex Traffic’s urban traffic control solution - UTC-UX - is now live across all of London, UK. 

It manages and controls all of the UK capital's 5,500 traffic signal sites, replacing Transport for London (TfL)’s existing system.  

Yunex says it delivers TfL’s ambitious real-time optimiser (RTO) programme and enables improved journey times, traffic flows and responses to incidents, as well as better data and customer information. 

The company says the hosted ITC-UX system future-proofs London’s control system and road network with enhanced user interfaces and new functionality, including automatic database updates and bus priority capabilities.

It operates directly from a web browser, offering 'at-a-glance' system and junction status, and gives TfL the enabling platform to support the roll-out of the company’s Fusion multimodal network control platform, eventually replacing the Scoot system that has been in operation in London for more than 30 years.

UTC-UX was installed over a two-week period, and supports over 15,000 Scoot links, and makes use of over 16,000 Scoot detectors.  

"London's road network plays a vital role in enabling millions of journeys each day and we're determined to ensure that people can walk, cycle, take the bus and drive as safely and efficiently as possible," says Carl Eddleston, TfL's director of network management and resilience.

"This world-leading new traffic management system will be a game-changer for us in London. It will use new data sources to better manage our road network, tackle congestion, reduce delay for people choosing healthier travel options and improve air quality."

Fusion ensures traffic management decisions and target outcomes for all road users, not just cars, are policy-driven - so that clean air outcomes are prioritised, for example, or active travel modes are made safer.

Wilke Reints, MD of Yunex Traffic in the UK, says: “Building on the UK’s track record of developing modern traffic management and control solutions, RTO provides a robust, reliable system that will meet the needs of the world’s largest cities, helping improve air quality, reduce congestion and make sustainable travel more appealing and accessible to everyone.” 

Phase One of the programme saw Yunex working with TfL’s service delivery team to develop the new, cloud-hosted UTC solution which is now operational.

In parallel, Phase Two focused on the development of the Fusion adaptive control algorithms which will be "deployed across the whole of London over the coming years". 

Phase Three - the final phase - sees Yunex take responsibility for maintaining the UTC system throughout the rest of the contract term.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smoothing out city freight movements
    May 28, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes a national first. Urban freight movements, while commercially and socially vital, are a growing logistical headache for planners and people alike. Figures from France’s Lyon Laboratory of Transport Economics indicate that goods transport in major urban areas accounts for: 20% of traffic; 35% of CO2 emissions made by all urban trips; and 50% of the diesel used; while final km delivery runs account for 20% of the total cost of the transport chain.
  • Singapore plans changes to transit system
    June 13, 2018
    Singapore has the third-highest population density in the world and the numbers are continuing to grow. The government knows that transit is vital: David Crawford investigates the city state’s Smart Nation strategy. Transport is the most important of the five domains identified as the pillars of Singapore's far-reaching Smart Nation strategy, launched in November 2014 by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong with the aim of reaching fulfilment by 2024. Roads account for 12% of the island republic's 719km2 land ar
  • Yunex plans an end to ‘stupid roads’
    March 30, 2022
    Congestion, gridlocked traffic, accidents: as a solution to the traffic problems in our cities, all eyes are on electric and autonomous driving. There is constant talk about technological innovations that are being developed in vehicles for this purpose. So much focus is on developing the smart car of the future. But what about the dumb road of today? Wouldn’t it be a quicker win to smarten up infrastructure for traffic already today?
  • T-Charge introduced to older vehicles in London to tackle toxic air pollution
    October 23, 2017
    To combat thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution in London, up to 34, 000 polluting vehicles travelling into Central London every month may have to pay the T-Charge £10.00 ($13.00) which will operate on top of the Congestion Charge £11.50 ($15.00). Launched by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the T -Charge applies to drivers of pre-Euro 4 vehicles that do not meet the PM and NOx emissions and has come into effect from 7.00am on 23 October 2017.