Skip to main content

UK city to introduce thermal imaging traffic management

City of York Council is to introduce thermal imaging technology on key cycle routes in York to help reduce the time spent at traffic signals, improve journey reliability and cycle safety. The city is set to become one of the first councils in the country to start using the technology which will accurately detect cyclists at signals by their ‘heat signature’, allowing the signals to react accordingly and be adjusted to give more ‘green time’ for cyclists. The thermal technology was first introduced by
March 24, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
City of York Council is to introduce thermal imaging technology on key cycle routes in York to help reduce the time spent at traffic signals, improve journey reliability and cycle safety.

The city is set to become one of the first councils in the country to start using the technology which will accurately detect cyclists at signals by their ‘heat signature’, allowing the signals to react accordingly and be adjusted to give more ‘green time’ for cyclists.

The thermal technology was first introduced by 1466 Transport for London last year as part of the cycle superhighway network.

The scheme is all part of a multi million pound overhaul of York’s ageing traffic signals – the largest scheme the city has seen since the last major overhaul of York’s traffic signals in the mid 1990s which introduced the city’s new urban traffic control system to control the city’s transport network.

The five year scheme also includes replacement of worn out and unreliable in-road road loops with camera systems for traffic detection.

The authority is also proposing to replace approximately half of the 122 traffic signals and 54 pedestrian crossings in the city over a five-year rolling programme with modern equipment.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Debating the future of in-vehicle systems
    December 6, 2012
    Industry experts talk to Jason Barnes about the legislative situation of current and future in-vehicle systems. Articles about technology development can have a tendency to reference Moore’s Law with almost indecent regularity and haste but the fact remains that despite predictions of slow-down or plateauing, the pace remains unrelenting. That juxtaposes with a common tendency within the ITS industry: to concentrate on the technology and assume that much else – legislation, business cases and so on – will m
  • Wi-Fi win-win for mass transit
    October 31, 2014
    David Crawford explores passenger and operator benefits of on-board Wi-Fi Urban commuters’ growing demand for continuous – and reliable - internet connectivity is spurring network operators into the rapid installation of high-grade Wi-Fi access on their surface and underground networks, as well as in their stations. Such moves are often a key part of strategies to maintain and increase ridership levels.
  • ITS industry needs more effort to get to the future
    January 19, 2012
    Eric Sampson, visiting professor at Newcastle University and City University London and ambassador for ITS-UK, provides a retrospective on the last couple of decades and takes a look at what the ITS industry still needs to do to get to where it needs to be
  • Congestion charging in New York edges a wheel-length closer
    May 16, 2023
    'This is about more than reducing traffic' says city mayor, pledging transit investment