Skip to main content

TRL powers UTC with SCOOT 7 at Highways UK

TRL demonstrated the capabilities of its new urban traffic control (UTC) system, which uses the SCOOT 7 adaptive traffic control system, at Highways UK this week.
November 8, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The company says the UTC system - powered by SCOOT 7 (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) – will respond automatically to traffic fluctuations, thereby removing the need for signal plans.

Mike Guerin, TRL's head of sales and marketing, told 1846 ITS International the system has been designed to be more user-friendly for people who may not be experts in SCOOT.

“The data is free and open, allowing local authorities and customers to reduce the total cost of ownership for a UTC SCOOT system. On the other end of the scale, we are comfortable deploying the solution to big cities in the UK and globally,” Guerin adds.

SCOOT 7's capabilities in bus priority and cycle and pedestrian optimisation are expected to provide UTC users with the ability to manually trigger gating of traffic signals.

TRL’s professional services consultant Mark Crabtree says there is also a feature that allows users to do “smarter things” with external data sources in areas such as pollution monitoring.

“When the pollution hits a certain level, you can change the strategy of SCOOT to try and mitigate against that,” he continues. “Another example would be a car park message sign which tells people the car park is full or there is congestion on the way, allowing users to choose another car park to get to their destination quicker.”

The UTC can be deployed on an organisation’s chosen cloud platform and will be available as a subscription solution in the first quarter of 2020.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Saving the smartphone zombies from themselves
    October 15, 2020
    As roads – particularly in cities – become busier, companies are fielding a steady trickle of products to keep pedestrians safe and vehicles flowing
  • Glasgow’s new Operations Centre has a key role in city’s future
    June 6, 2014
    David Crawford investigates a control centre with a future. Destined to play a central role in keeping the city and its transport running smoothly during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in July, the new Glasgow Operations Centre in Scotland’s largest urban centre formally went live earlier this year. The aim was to dry run its far-reaching integration of previously distinct core systems and familiarise the public with the initial phase of what will be a long-term post-event legacy. The centre brings together, i
  • Suppliers reshape to provide tolling and traffic management expertise
    August 2, 2013
    Jason Barnes examines the trend towards single source supply of complete tolling and traffic management solutions with some senior tolling industry figures. Only a few years back, the major tolling system suppliers were aggressively positioning themselves as one-stop shops for tolling solutions and operations. No sooner has that little flurry of innovation settled than another trend has emerged – tolling companies wanting to become major ITS suppliers as well. Various tolling company seniors have in recent
  • Is driver information heading for multi-channel mayhem
    October 22, 2013
    Colin Sowman talks to TRL’s research director Dr Alan Stevens about the future for cash-strapped road authorities’ driver information systems.