Skip to main content

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.

UTC

Related Content

  • August 16, 2016
    New Zealand to trial mobile road weather data acquisition
    From September 2016, MetService and the New Zealand Transport Agency will commence a road weather mobile data acquisition trial, in conjunction with road contractors Fulton Hogan and Downer. The aim of the trial is to provide MetService, the Transport Agency, road contractors and the travelling public with pre-warning of challenging and dangerous driving conditions or potential road closures during severe weather. The six-month trial follows a pilot sensor-assessment process and aims to expand road
  • January 22, 2015
    Cubic Joins Smart Cities Council
    Cubic Transportation Systems has joined the Smart Cities Council, a coalition of industry thought leaders, innovators and practitioners dedicated to improving the liveability, workability and sustainability of the world’s cities. A booming global population puts pressure on cities facing the inevitable question of how to manage personal travel within geographic and infrastructure constraints. Cubic enables greater integration across all modes of travel by leveraging data to generate predictive, personali
  • June 5, 2018
    Russia 2018 World Cup: ITS can win it
    Teams and supporters will cover vast distances in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Stephane Clauss from Sony Europe’s Image Sensing Solutions division examines how the latest camera technologies can be deployed to help things run smoothly over the next month or so... For one month, from June 14, Russia is hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This is the largest country in the world and the distances between venues will be larger than at almost any other World Cup - bar the finals in the US and Brazil.
  • December 5, 2014
    Small toll agency adopts big city thinking
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a novel option for new toll road authorities. While somewhat politically controversial, outsourcing has gained traction in the business world as a model worth investigating for its efficiency and cost saving benefits. Lean start-ups tend to employ independent contractors instead of full-time employees in an effort to remain flexible and avoid costs associated with pensions, retirement places, health insurance, office space and benefit packages.