Skip to main content

Polish city plans large-scale ITS system

The city of Łódź, Poland, has announced plans to install a new intelligent transport system that will control traffic flow and give priority to public transport. Thought to be the largest intelligent transport system project in Poland, the US$24.9 million system will monitor 230 intersections in the country’s fourth-largest city and send data to a new operations centre via 500,000 km of copper cable laid through 50 kilometres of cable ducts. Around 2,000 traffic signals will also be installed around
August 18, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The city of Łódź, Poland, has announced plans to install a new intelligent transport system that will control traffic flow and give priority to public transport.

Thought to be the largest intelligent transport system project in Poland, the US$24.9 million system will monitor 230 intersections in the country’s fourth-largest city and send data to a new operations centre via 500,000 km of copper cable laid through 50 kilometres of cable ducts.

Around 2,000 traffic signals will also be installed around the city, with 130 surveillance cameras and 30 licence plate recognition cameras operating at intersections to monitor the flow and speed of traffic.

New electronic passenger bulletin boards will appear at bus stops, and nine electronic boards installed by main roads will display real-time information to drivers on traffic jams and delays. At a new operations centre, staff will be able to decide when and if to change traffic lights to dictate flows of traffic.

The Łódź Department of Roads and Transport says that the primary purpose of the new system is to make urban bus and tram travel more efficient. Work will begin in early September and is expected to finish at the end of 2015.

Related Content

  • European tunnel safety steps up a gear
    September 19, 2017
    David Crawford reviews the latest safety systems installed in European tunnels. Blueprints for the safer road tunnels of the future are emerging fast as European operators invest in technologies to enhance travellers’ prospects of surviving an accident. Central to modern emergency planning is the principle that, following an incident, drivers should be enabled to rescue themselves and their passengers with the aid of prompt and correct identification and communication of the hazard. Roles for cooperativ
  • Cost benefit: Toronto retimings tame traffic trauma
    July 11, 2018
    Canada’s largest city reckons that it is saving its taxpayers’ money simply by altering the way traffic lights work. David Crawford reviews Toronto’s ambitious plans to ease congestion. Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolis (and the fourth largest in North America), has saved its residents CAN$53 (US$42.4) for every CAN$1 (US$0.80) spent over a 2012-2016 traffic signal retiming programme, according to figures released by its Transportation Services Division. The programme covered 1,275 signals (the city’s to
  • Sensor solutions cuts maintenance and emissions
    December 8, 2014
    The new raft of sensor technology can provide cost savings as well as additional functionality, as David Crawford discovers. Austria’s third-largest city, Linz, with a population of around 200,000, is recording substantial savings in its urban tram network within 18 months of introducing a new, high-technology approach to its public transport management. Tram, bus and trolleybus operator Linz Linien forms part of city utilities management company Linz AG, which has been carrying out a wide-ranging Smart Cit
  • High-res traffic data provides planners with the big picture
    November 5, 2015
    Road authorities have a lot to gain from high-resolution traffic data, argues Pravin Varaiya. Traffic engineers have traditionally been forced to operate with limited data regarding the performance of their arterials. Traffic studies are often commissioned once every three years, over a few days, to get an updated estimate of utilization.