Skip to main content

Hertfordshire deploys real-time public transport information system

UK transport consultants WYG have successfully collaborated with Hertfordshire County Council in the UK to provide technical expertise for the county’s real-time public transport system. The roll-out of real time passenger information (RTPI) systems across Hertfordshire over the coming weeks is the first milestone in the project and is a key part of a wider transport improvement programme. The project presented numerous challenges, not least the need to deliver the project in partnership with private secto
October 8, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
UK transport consultants 6676 WYG have successfully collaborated with Hertfordshire County Council in the UK to provide technical expertise for the county’s real-time public transport system.

The roll-out of real time passenger information (RTPI) systems across Hertfordshire over the coming weeks is the first milestone in the project and is a key part of a wider transport improvement programme.  The project presented numerous challenges, not least the need to deliver the project in partnership with private sector bus operators with potentially conflicting requirements.

Although passengers are already able to access bus timetables online which show when a bus is due to arrive, they will now be able to view real-time information on departure screens, at bus stations and stops, through the Council’s Intalink website and on their own mobile phones. This new real-time information will show the actual arrival time, taking into account problems such as delays.

WYG provided technical expertise in the specification of an automatic vehicle location system (AVL) and associated real-time passenger information. The project also included smart-card ticketing which has successfully been implemented and launched earlier in 2012.

WYG also designed the integrated traffic control centre and wrote the specification for the urban traffic management and control (UTMC) system that underpins Hertfordshire County Council’s intelligent transport systems strategy.

The system will be further developed to assist Hertfordshire County Council and other stakeholders to deliver environmentally sustainable changes in transport behaviour through integrated ticketing and real-time passenger information delivered to on-street signs and smart phones.

Iain Bisset, Managing Director, WYG said: “Crucially, the system will deliver to bus operators the tools to improve the reliability and punctuality of bus services throughout the county. Detailed information on delay points will enable Hertfordshire County Council to reduce delays to buses, including delivering bus priority at signalised junctions.”

Stuart Pile, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport for the Council, said: "Real-time passenger information will help make public transport more attractive to use, as well as helping us to deliver more reliable and punctual buses. This is vital if we are to persuade residents to leave their cars at home and take the bus instead.  The real-time information project is part of a wave of traffic and travel technologies which form part of the county council’s larger intelligent transport systems programme to improve the way Hertfordshire's transport network is managed.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Moving pictures: live-stream body-worn cameras hit Manila
    June 5, 2018
    Makati, the financial centre of the Philippines, is home to just half a million residents. However, the daytime population of Makati - one of 16 cities that make up the metropolitan Manila area – is estimated to be more than three times that. Home to the highest concentration of multi-national and local corporations in the Philippines, it is a commercial hub: 600,000 vehicles are thought to move through downtown Makati on a typical weekday. Maintaining traffic flow and responding quickly to incidents is the
  • TRL: Cities must do more to help VRUs
    May 9, 2019
    UK cities must learn from the Netherlands and Denmark if active travel and increased safety for vulnerable road users are to co-exist, says TRL’s Marcus Jones Active travel’ refers to modes of transport in which physical effort is required to undertake purposeful journeys - for example, walking or cycling to school, work or the local shops, as well as walking and standing as part of accessing public transport. The benefits of replacing short car journeys with more active forms of transport are obvious. Act
  • Mobile transport information across the Finnish–Russian border
    April 16, 2014
    The smart transport corridor between Helsinki in Finland and St Petersburg in Russia will bring new services for passengers, car drivers and public transport. Development of the Vedia multi-service concept, led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Vediafi, unites newly opened mobile services that will result in smoother passenger traffic across the Finnish–Russian border and enhance passenger experience and traffic safety. Vedia multi-service is a key element of the Finnish–Russian intelligent
  • Europe’s EasyWay project accommodates political requirements
    May 29, 2013
    The EasyWay project has evolved to take account of political developments at the European level. By Jason Barnes The European Union’s (EU’s) EasyWay ITS deployment project has its roots in the ambitions of former European Commission President Jacques Delors with regard to truly international networks for energy, information and for transport. Definition of what became known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) began back in 1994 with seven working groups. They produced an R&D and policy framework