Skip to main content

Aimsun looks ahead to Bergen traffic contract

Predictive traffic flow deal with Norwegian transport authority is part of EU's NordicWay 3
By Adam Hill October 5, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Making predictions: Damsgårdstunnelen and Løvstakktunnelen

Aimsun is to pilot a traffic management system next year in Norway's second-largest city, Bergen.

The Aimsun Live project for Statens Vegvesen, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), will focus on tunnel closure management and predicting the effects of re-routing, particularly in Damsgårdstunnelen and Løvstakktunnelen. 

The pilot is designed to show what happens to traffic flow when a tunnel is closed, and how predictive modelling can help avoid congestion and reduce emissions while optimising traffic management.

The pilot is part of Norway’s part-funded role in the NordicWay 3 C-ITS European Union programme.

It will use the Aimsun Live solution to analyse real-time traffic data and historic travel patterns to predict what will happen on the roads in the next 60 minutes when it comes to traffic flow.

Aimsun says this will help traffic operators make informed decisions on how to use ITS solutions such as changing signal timings or suggesting alternative routes.

“We have a long working relationship with NPRA, and Bergen already has an Aimsun Next microscopic model, which will form the base for the Aimsun Live project,” says Aimsun regional MD Gavin Jackman. 

“Transport modelling has proved to be invaluable in planning the way people and goods move around a city – Bergen is now taking this to the next level by using prediction.”

Aimsun will work with NPRA and local consultant Cowi to deliver the pilot in spring 2021, ready for evaluation of traffic flow improvements and other issues over the spring and summer.

Related Content

  • 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
  • Cost benefit: Toronto retimings tame traffic trauma
    July 19, 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
  • Study finds big differences in toll collection cases
    December 16, 2013
    Examination of Norway’s tolling companies finds much to praise, and some criticisms too, as Torill Eidsheim told delegates at the ASECAP conference. The cost of collecting tolls has a substantial effect on the profitability, or otherwise, of tolling companies and is within the company’s control to a far greater degree than, for instance, traffic volumes. And while it is easy to assume that all tolling companies incur similar collection costs, that is not always the case according to Torill Eidsheim, pres
  • Dynamic lane closures cuts time, cost and congestion on Motorway roadworks
    March 17, 2014
    A combination of technologies is leading to major congestion and cost reductions during roadworks on the UK’s motorway network. Innovative construction programme scheduling technology and the deployment of moveable barriers has achieved substantial savings of money and time on UK motorway roadworks managed by the Highways Agency (HA). This combination has set the scene for a new generation of road usage analysis tools. The HA’s objective was to reduce the congestion caused by lane closures during roa