Skip to main content

Highways Agency trials new traffic monitoring technology

The UK Highways Agency is trialling a system to add commercially available traffic data to its existing sources to monitor traffic flow on England’s motorways and strategic roads. Similar data sources are already used by satellite navigation devices, smartphones, and applications like Google maps. The system uses data that comes mostly from vehicle tracking devices installed by fleet operators, and a proportion from mobile sat-nav type devices, including smartphone traffic applications where the user has
September 24, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The 1841 UK Highways Agency is trialling a system to add commercially available traffic data to its existing sources to monitor traffic flow on England’s motorways and strategic roads. Similar data sources are already used by satellite navigation devices, smartphones, and applications like Google maps.

The system uses data that comes mostly from vehicle tracking devices installed by fleet operators, and a proportion from mobile sat-nav type devices, including smartphone traffic applications where the user has opted in to making their anonymous location data available.

A different technology has been successfully trialled on the M25 and its feeder to measure journey times. Improving reliability is a Highways Agency priority and this new system, which uses anonymous location data from mobile devices, provides accurate data which will inform the planning of future measures to reduce congestion.

In both cases before any information is received by the Highways Agency it is processed to ensure the anonymity of road users. No individual person, vehicle or device, can be identified as only data relating to traffic levels on the road is provided.

Simon Sheldon-Wilson, Highways Agency traffic management director, said:  “We are committed to reducing congestion and improving journey time reliability on the strategic road network. These new sources of data will strengthen the information we receive about traffic conditions.”

The Highways Agency says better real-time data will allow staff to respond more quickly to incidents and identify delays and communicate them to drivers so they can take alternative routes if necessary. Control rooms currently collect data from cameras and in-road sensors; however, if an incident happens out of camera shot or if the traffic does not queue back to one of the sensor locations, control room staff don’t have a full picture of the problem and there can be delays responding.

“This new approach would allow us to work with GPS data which will give us the most accurate and comprehensive data set to manage traffic flow and clear up incidents as quickly as possible,” says Sheldon-“Wilson.

“The information used for the M25 scheme is historic, not immediate, but will help us develop improvements targeted to reduce congestion and improve reliability.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Report analyses multiple ITS projects to highlight cost and benefits
    March 16, 2015
    Every year in America cost benefit analysis is carried out on dozens of ITS installations and pilot studies and the findings, along with the lessons learned, are entered into the Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) web-based ITS Knowledge Resources database. This database holds more than 1,600 reports and periodically the USDOT reviews the material on file to draw conclusions from this wider body of evidence. It has just published one such review ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned: 2014 Update Re
  • New York unveils ‘Midtown in Motion’ traffic management system
    April 19, 2012
    New York Mayor Bloomberg has unveiled a new, technology-based traffic management system that allows city traffic engineers to monitor and respond to Midtown Manhattan traffic conditions in real time, improving traffic flow on the city’s most congested streets.
  • Road user charging potential solution to transportation problems
    December 14, 2012
    A number of new and highly significant open road tolling schemes have just been launched or are soon to ‘go live’. Systems of road user charging are flexing their muscles as the means to solve politically sensitive transportation problems, reports Jon Masters. Gothenburg, January 2013, will be the time and place for the launch of the next city congestion charging scheme in Europe. In a separate development, Los Angeles County’s tolled Metro ExpressLanes began operating in November 2012 – the latest in a ser
  • Orange County to manage traffic with trial interoperable CCTV
    September 12, 2014
    Interoperable CCTV can provide early warning of problems and help improve traffic management and incident response as Morteza Fahrtash and Carlos Ortiz explain. California’s transportation system is one of the state’s defining features and Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) strives to improving mobility across the state through the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the network of highway, freeways, toll roads and expressways.