Councils in North East England receive funding to upgrade traffic management technology.

The UK Government has announced fund valued £3.64 million ($4.79 million) to upgrade the traffic management technology and improve journey times across the North East Combined Authority area (NECA). It will include upgrades to traffic signals on key regional routes with Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras, Variable Message Signs and integration with public transport data from Nexus. The Department of Transport paid £2.8 million ($3.6million) of the fund and the rest came from local authority contribu
October 27, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The UK Government has announced fund valued £3.64 million ($4.79 million) to upgrade the traffic management technology and improve journey times across the North East Combined Authority area (NECA). It will include upgrades to traffic signals on key regional routes with Automatic Number Plate Recognition Cameras, Variable Message Signs and integration with public transport data from 2105 Nexus. The Department of Transport paid £2.8 million ($3.6million) of the fund and the rest came from local authority contributions.


The technology allows the camera to be monitored from the regional Urban Traffic Management Centre (1682 UTMC), allowing officers to adjust signal timings where necessary to improve traffic flow and provide better and reliable journey times to the travelling public.

Newcastle City Council submitted the funding bid on behalf of the North East Combined Authority for the expansion of the UTMC. It was one of 76 successful projects across the country to win a share of £244m ($186 million).

NECA is the seven councils which serve County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council and transport lead for the North East Combined Authority, said: “This funding is great news for commuters and business and will help cut journey times across the area. “We have a great facility here in the North East where we work together across the area to monitor the traffic network across local authority boundaries. This new investment means we can connect up traffic signals across key routes so we can smooth our traffic flows where we see congestion building up and adjust traffic signals right across the network to keep traffic moving at peak periods. “Providing reliable journey times and improving connectivity across the region is also a real benefit for our local economy as it helps people to access jobs and training and supports the efficient transport of goods.”

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Wireless technology aids workzone communications
    June 7, 2012
    Need for a temporary communication fix during a construction project has led to rapid deployment of a permanent but simplistic wireless broadband network in Chandler, Arizona When a major construction project was expected to disrupt highway communications in the city of Chandler, Arizona, the city’s engineers went looking for a simple solution. They needed a way of maintaining data connections with three consecutive intersections along Arizona Avenue in Chandler while construction necessitated the severin
    Read More
  • Huawei advocates for change
    April 23, 2025
    Achieving technological change also requires a shift in mindset, as Jacky Wang, vice president of Huawei’s Smart Transportation business unit, explains
    Read More
  • Nyx technology Arizona acquires lighting technology for Queen creek tunnel upgrade
    October 11, 2017
    Nyx Hemera Technologies has announced the installation tunnel lighting control system (TLACS) with Holophane's luminaires in the Queen-Creek tunnel in Arizona. The $3 million (£2,273,000) project is funded Department of Transportation in Arizona as part of ongoing efforts to upgrade the state road network’s efficiency and security. The project involves removing the existing interior lighting, installing an LED lighting system and intelligent control system, replacing the exterior lighting at both ends of
    Read More
  • UK government awards funding for transport technology projects
    February 23, 2017
    The UK government has awarded funding of US$4.9 million (£4 million) for technology projects that will cut congestion, speed up journeys and clean up the environment. Nineteen councils across England will receive between US$62,000 (£50,000) US$374,000 (£300,000) each for their ideas to improve journeys through digital innovation. The government money will be spent on developing cutting edge technology such as apps and sensors which can be used to cut congestion, improve parking in city centres and ale
    Read More

Highlighted Content