Skip to main content

Bus gate access control system to combat congestion

One of a number of recent improvements and developments that have been carried out in Wellingborough town centre as part of Northamptonshire County Council’s Highways initiative is the installation of an access control gate system that gives public transport vehicles sole access to a designated town centre route during peak times. The council hopes that the system, which uses long-range vehicle identification technology to allow only buses and taxis to enter the specified route between the hours of 0900 to
February 25, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
One of a number of recent improvements and developments that have been carried out in Wellingborough town centre as part of Northamptonshire County Council’s Highways initiative is the installation of an access control gate system that gives public transport vehicles sole access to a designated town centre route during peak times.

The council hopes that the system, which uses long-range vehicle identification technology to allow only buses and taxis to enter the specified route between the hours of 0900 to 1630, will combat congestion in the town centre and cut down carbon emissions by encouraging more people to travel using public transport.

A single directional triple rising bollard system was supplied and installed by UK security solutions integrator 7182 APT Security Systems.  Explains Chris Rowlands, managing director of APT Security Systems: “We supplied three bollards integrated with APT’s Passmaster technology at a strategic point on the route, and vehicles authorised by the council to use this route were fitted with a tag.

“The Passmaster system emits a signal that triggers the lowering of the bollard when it recognises an authorised tagged vehicle as present, and traffic indicators advise drivers when they can proceed,” he continues. “We also installed an intercom as a back-up to safeguard the system, as well as ensuring that the council can operate the bollards manually from its CCTV control room.”

APT’s Passmaster readers can recognise tags at distances ranging from one to eight metres and are available in a range of formats to suit different applications and environments, including readers mounted on walls, posts and barriers or housed in a roadside pedestal.

Andrew Lunn of highway service provider MGWSP, a joint venture between 6665 May Gurney and 6666 WSP, was Design Manager for the Wellingborough bus gate element of the Public Realm project and decided to specify APT technology: “We received quotes from a number of suppliers and APT was able to offer the most competitive, cost-effective solution for the job. Furthermore, I had worked with the company on a previous project and knew that it could meet my needs satisfactorily.”

The Wellingborough bus gate system is now operational and has enabled Northamptonshire County Council to enforce its Traffic Regulation Order much more easily, without the need to prosecute drivers who ignore the restrictions.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Metric Micro proves small is beautiful
    March 29, 2022
    The Micro terminal delivers the latest cashless smart payment technology in a small, robust form factor. Metric terminals have already changed the face of parking payment solutions with options for cashless, card, chip and PIN and QR/Bar code payment. The Micro terminal takes that evolution to the next stage, by providing an easy-to-use cashless payment terminal for any unattended service.
  • New Mersey crossing ends Halton’s congestion misery
    December 5, 2017
    Plagued by intolerable congestion but denied government funding for its solution, tiny Halton Borough Council relentlessly pursued its vision and achieved what many believed impossible. Halton may be a small local authority in north west England, but it had a big traffic problem. However, as the road, or more particularly the bridge, involved was not deemed a strategic route, central government would not commission or even fund a solution - a problem that many other local authorities will recognise.
  • New technologies enable increased collaboration, cooperation
    July 17, 2012
    The continued expansion of IP camera networks increases the availability of useful information. At the same time, the opportunity exists to increase inter-agency collaboration. This makes information management all the more necessary in the control room environment. But the transportation sector could do a lot to help itself by gaining a better idea up front of what and how it wants to do things, says Electrosonic's Karl Johnson.
  • The sunshine subsidy for Colorado’s tollways
    January 10, 2014
    David Crawford reports on energy cost cutting on US highways. Just over a year after switch-on and with two global awards under its belt, the longest solar-powered toll road in the US is generating heightened interest in highway applications of alternative energy. The E-407, which loops around the eastern perimeter of the Denver metropolitan area in Colorado, won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) President’s Overall Award for Excellence at its September 2013 Annual Meeting in