Essex and Hertfordshire councils trial smart city services

Telensa will assess the potential quality-of-life and economic benefits of a range of smart city technologies in partnership with Essex County Council (ECC) and Hertfordshire County Council. The potential to monitor issues remotely, according to Ian Grundy, ECC cabinet member for highways, will save taxpayers money and help fix issues before they become a problem. Both councils are now assessing the suitability of three sites in Hertfordshire and Essex towns for a two-month pilot in March. The smart
March 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
7574 Telensa will assess the potential quality-of-life and economic benefits of a range of smart city technologies in partnership with Essex County Council (ECC) and Hertfordshire County Council. The potential to monitor issues remotely, according to Ian Grundy, ECC cabinet member for highways, will save taxpayers money and help fix issues before they become a problem.


Both councils are now assessing the suitability of three sites in Hertfordshire and Essex towns for a two-month pilot in March.

The smart city solutions will send alerts that predict issues for blocked street drains that cause flooding. They will also be used to notify the highways team of high winds or gusts and help them build a data set that predicts dangerous driving conditions. In addition, traffic monitoring and analytics will dim unnecessary streetlighting on empty roads to understand local traffic patterns while air quality monitoring is intended to deliver street-by-street measurements.

Ralph Sangster, executive member for Highways at HCC, said: “Smart technology is becoming an essential tool in delivering a high quality highways services and ‘Safe Smart’ is an exciting opportunity to trial a modern technology which reinforces Hertfordshire County Council's ongoing commitment to maintain and improve roads for the benefit of all Hertfordshire residents.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Mobility pricing offers new tools for managing mobility
    November 23, 2017
    Mobility pricing is the best way of sustaining and enhancing mobility, argues Moving Forward Consulting’s Josef Czako. Mobility pricing (MP) is effectively the culmination of the ‘user pays’ principle and has been referred to in many policy discussions about electronic toll collection, road user charging (RUC), and pricing. MP not only reflects the ‘use more, pay more’ nature of RUC, it also takes account of the external cost of journeys including pollution, noise, the cost of congestion and accidents.
    Read More
  • IBM helping to transform Zhenjiang's transport system
    March 22, 2012
    IBM and the City of Zhenjiang, China, have announced that IBM is helping to transform the city's public transportation system. Zhenjiang will use hardware, software, services and technologies from the company’s research labs, all brought together through the IBM intelligent operations centre (IOC) for smarter cities, a solution that will serve as the central point of command for the city.
    Read More
  • Institute sets out 20 year vision for transport planning
    October 3, 2014
    A new report, A Vision for Transport Planning, has been produced and published by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and the Transport Planning Society (TPS), setting out the key role transport planning can play in meeting the pressing challenges the nation will face over the next 20 years. Taking a view to 2035, the report focuses on how the UK can benefit to the greatest extent possible from transport planning’s unique influence – ranging from its major impact on national economi
    Read More
  • Connected vehicle data promises advanced weather warning
    August 29, 2012
    Connected vehicle research and development is being aimed at improving driver safety and mobility, but is also promising advanced weather monitoring and warning systems. Sheldon Drobot reports. Over the last few years, the United States’ Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Research & Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) have joined forces to promote safety, mobility and the environment through a new connected vehicle initiative. This aims to enable wireless communication between vehicles, infra
    Read More

Highlighted Content