VDOT to get world-class transportation operations centre

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has issued a Notice of Intent to Award to Serco to integrate and run the state’s five transportation management centres under a six-year, US$355 million contract. The Commonwealth Transportation Board will make the final decision at its June meeting. The project will operate all five centres, including managing the Safety Service Patrol, under a single advanced active traffic management system platform, providing greater consistency and efficiency and enabli
May 8, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has issued a Notice of Intent to Award  to Serco to integrate and run the state’s five transportation management centres under a six-year, US$355 million contract. The Commonwealth Transportation Board will make the final decision at its June meeting.

The project will operate all five centres, including managing the Safety Service Patrol, under a single advanced active traffic management system platform, providing greater consistency and efficiency and enabling VDOT to better manage congestion, freight movements, incidents, severe weather-related incidents and traveller information.

The system will monitor traffic through the use of nearly 900 cameras, 500 electronic message signs and more than 1,000 road sensors, enabling operators to co-ordinate signal systems, manage incidents and emergency response, provide real time travel information and manage HOV/reversible lanes.

Announcing the award, Governor McDonnell said: "The Commonwealth sought innovation from around the country to deliver the best technology solutions to maximise our transportation system. Virginia is a leader among state departments of transportation in providing real-time traffic information to motorists, and we wanted to build on that reputation."

Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton added, "The result is using technology to be the eyes, ears and voice of Virginia's road transportation system, so we can go into immediate action to prevent accidents, clear incidents, make our roads safer, and immediately inform motorists so they can reach their destinations faster. Our transportation system in Virginia must be more reliable than other states' and countries in order for us to remain competitive economically."

"I am very pleased with the progress VDOT has made in collaborating with the private industry to develop the best solutions to improve transportation through technology," said VDOT Commissioner Greg Whirley. "It takes all tools and methods, including technology, operations, and first-class communication systems, in addition to maintenance and construction to make our highway system operate as smoothly as possible."
Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Urban Traffic Control Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Driver training saves lives, increases profits, reduces costs
    February 6, 2012
    An innovative UK Government initiative on work-related driver training has resulted in astonishing success, not only in terms of government objectives, but also in substantial cost-benefits for companies and public sector authorities participating in the scheme: they save lives and increase profits/reduce costs Here, we present an overview of the initiative and, overleaf, provide a detailed cost-benefit analysis which amply illustrates why it has been enthusiastically embraced by industry and the public sec
    Read More
  • US business leaders discuss concerns over transportation funding
    July 11, 2014
    US business leaders briefed Vice President Joe Biden and US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx yesterday on business issues associated with transportation infrastructure during a meeting hosted by the White House Business Council and Business Forward. Meeting participants included executives from large manufacturers, shipping companies, trade associations, and a range of other businesses, including Doug Oberhelman, chairman and CEO, Caterpillar, and Matt Rose, executive chairman, Burlington Northern S
    Read More
  • Keeping people on track is RATP’s raison d’etre
    June 14, 2018
    In Paris, RATP Group’s autonomous Metro Line 1 is carrying 750,000 people a day across the city. Ben Spencer is invited into the control room to take a look at how the system works Paris is visited by millions of tourists each year, keen to see for themselves stunning attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Seine and all the rest. But while the best-known sites of the City of Light tend to be on the surface, there is a lot going on below those iconic grand boule
    Read More
  • Mega trends will challenge transport technology
    June 5, 2015
    Jon Masters investigates some of the longer term trends that will shape transportation over the next 20 years. Business analysts and investors have already placed their bets on a future of technological smart mobility services. In December last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, the on-demand taxi and lift share smartphone app and start-up business, had been valued at $41.2 billion which, as the Journal reported, is an incredible vote of confidence for a company only five years old.
    Read More

Highlighted Content