Highways England gets a single view of severe weather information

Highways England has launched a US$6 million (£5 million) integrated weather information system developed by the Civica Group, to enable better management of the nation’s main roads during times of severe weather and to support its aims of keeping the road network free-flowing and safe. Developed by IPL, part of Civica’s digital solutions business, and incorporating Exactrak vehicle navigation and reporting technology, the severe weather information service (SWIS) brings together critical information o
October 25, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
8101 Highways England has launched a US$6 million (£5 million) integrated weather information system developed by the Civica Group, to enable better management of the nation’s main roads during times of severe weather and to support its aims of keeping the road network free-flowing and safe.  

Developed by IPL, part of Civica’s digital solutions business, and incorporating Exactrak vehicle navigation and reporting technology, the severe weather information service (SWIS) brings together critical information on weather forecasts, road treatment plans and winter fleet data into a single system. It will help Highways England and its partners to manage the risk of severe weather more effectively through improved access to dynamic real-time information, together with delivering technology-based efficiencies.

Highways England operates and maintains England’s motorways and major A roads, a network that spans 4,300 miles and carries a third of all traffic by mileage and two thirds of all heavy goods traffic.

Highways England and its partners need access to accurate, robust and timely weather and winter service information to enable them to better manage the resilience of the Strategic Road Network and fulfil their network operator role.

SWIS delivers an enhanced, consolidated view of information to approximately 2,000 operational users actively working to manage and improve the performance of the road network in advance of and during severe weather conditions, including winter service providers, maintainers and control room staff, and external parties. The system supports better planning, execution and recording of winter treatment actions, improved identification of weather events with a potential impact on the road network, and enhanced rectification of weather and winter treatment equipment faults.

The solution enables the monitoring of all activity once a vehicle has left a depot and this data is recorded in SWIS to ensure compliance and to inform future planning.    

Urban Traffic Control Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • North Florida signals coordinated approach to congestion management
    October 7, 2013
    David Crawford investigates innovative congestion management in Florida. The largest US city by area is well into the implementation of an ambitious congestion management system (CMS) on the scale of those of higher-profile centres such as Seattle and San Francisco. Regional agency the North Florida Transportation Planning Organisation (NFTPO) aims to ensure that commuters on major highways in Jacksonville can rely on a minimum 72km/h (45mph) driving speed in normal conditions.
    Read More
  • Vehicle probe data aids emergency rescue vehicle routing
    June 20, 2012
    A new vehicle routeing initiative has arisen to help improve emergency response and relief following natural disasters in Japan. David Crawford reports Japan’s national ITS group ITS Japan and the country’s leading automotives have agreed on a new combined approach to the organisation of traffic management and emergency response in the wake of major natural disasters. A new, robust traffic information platform using probe data obtained from vehicles to support traffic flow will build on the shared experienc
    Read More
  • Highways England urged to make CCTV of “swerve to avoid” crashes available to insurers
    March 17, 2017
    With distracted driving causing a dramatic rise in ‘swerve to avoid’ crashes, Claims Management & Adjusting (CMA) has welcomed a clarification by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that traffic flow CCTV is not personal data. In a stance criticised by drivers, fleet operators and insurers, Highways England has apparently used the Data Protection Act to justify the deletion of footage after only seven days, even when it might prove liability in a serious accident. It has also cited the cost of st
    Read More
  • Highways England tests ghost busters
    January 25, 2021
    Getting rid of misleading or confusing road markings will be vital for safe AV operation
    Read More

Highlighted Content