Skip to main content

New consortium leads smart city initiative for Exeter

Exeter City Council and Devon County Council, working with a consortium led by IT services provider NTT Data, have unveiled a ground-breaking, two-year intelligent transport project for the area. Through the project, the group aims to identify solutions that will alleviate traffic congestion in and around Exeter, an historic city in the county of Devon, in south-west England. NTT Data will lead the consortium of traffic experts and specialist providers including Imtech Traffic & Infra, Vaisala, the Unive
December 10, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Exeter City Council and Devon County Council, working with a consortium led by IT services provider NTT Data, have unveiled a ground-breaking, two-year intelligent transport project for the area. Through the project, the group aims to identify solutions that will alleviate traffic congestion in and around Exeter, an historic city in the county of Devon, in south-west England.

NTT Data will lead the consortium of traffic experts and specialist providers including 6999 Imtech Traffic & Infra, 144 Vaisala, the University of Exeter and big data specialist Black Swan.

The Engaged Smart Transport project will use real-time traffic and weather sensor data, combined with other data sources such as eyewitness and behavioural information to better understand the factors affecting people’s travel behaviour. It will reveal where and why congestion happens and identify solutions to address these problems. The consortium has been awarded match funding by Innovate, the UK Government’s innovation agency.

Exeter is setting out a growth plan for the city that will deliver 12,000 new homes, 60 hectares of new business land and 40,000 square metres of new retail space by 2026. Increased population and commuter movement will add to pressures on infrastructure and public transport services. Exeter has a central population of 120,000 that already experiences daily congestion as well as one-off spikes caused by events.

The consortium believes that understanding how existing road capacity can be managed more effectively is critical for Exeter to deliver this growth. Taking an innovative approach to the use of existing and new data from a range of sources such as sensor technology, social media feedback and the latest traffic algorithm technology, the Engaged Smart Transport project will deliver insight into population movement and provide answers to real-world traffic issues.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • DfT launches fund for councils to improve road travel using new technology
    August 12, 2016
    A US$2.5 million (£2 million) fund to allow councils to capitalise on emerging technologies and deliver better journeys for motorists has been launched by the UK Department for Transport (DfT). Local authorities have been to apply for a share of the money to develop projects to greatly enhance journeys. Proposals include using technology that will allow vehicles communicate with each other and roadside sensors to provide drivers with real-time traffic information. Councils will also look at how warnin
  • Partnership to provide free real-time parking solutions for major US cities
    July 6, 2012
    ParkMe, a provider of dynamic and real-time parking data, and Parkeon, a specialist in multi-space parking solutions, have completed an integration which will enable the companies to provide free parking solutions to residents of major US cities.
  • Washington, DC, tops list of gridlocked US cities
    August 26, 2015
    The 2015 urban mobility scorecard for the US, published jointly by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Inrix, indicates that urban areas of all sizes are experiencing the challenges seen in the early 2000s and population, jobs and therefore congestion are increasing. The US economy has regained nearly all of the nine million jobs lost during the recession and the total congestion problem is larger than the pre-recession levels. Cities of all sizes are experiencing the challenges last seen before t
  • Guardian RWIS
    February 2, 2012
    Global weather specialist Vaisala has launched a newly developed non-invasive road weather information system with substantial benefits for road operators. The Guardian Road Weather Information System (RWIS) uses laser spectroscopy to gauge pavement condition during all types of weather. It measures a variety of parameters: amount of accumulated water, frost, ice, slush, snow, and humidity as well as air and pavement temperature. For the first time ever for non-contact sensors, Guardian also derives a measu