Skip to main content

UK government to open up roadworks data

The UK government plans to open up roadwork data to tech companies with the aim of reducing traffic jams. The Department of Transport (DfT) says companies could potentially develop navigation apps powered by artificial intelligence that can warn drivers up to months in advance of planned disruption to routes and offer alternatives. George Freeman, minister for the future of transport, says the announcement will “help open up data, reducing congestion, pollution and frustration for road users”. The
September 2, 2019 Read time: 1 min
The UK government plans to open up roadwork data to tech companies with the aim of reducing traffic jams.


The Department of Transport (DfT) says companies could potentially develop navigation apps powered by artificial intelligence that can warn drivers up to months in advance of planned disruption to routes and offer alternatives.

George Freeman, minister for the future of transport, says the announcement will “help open up data, reducing congestion, pollution and frustration for road users”.

The move is also expected to aid the development of route planning systems for connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs).

Working with local authorities and the C/AV sector, the DfT will look at introducing legislation to make it easier to access data around 5,000 yearly road closures.

UTC

Related Content

  • February 21, 2013
    IBM and NXP partner on Dutch connected car pilot
    The first results of a smarter traffic pilot, conducted in the Dutch city of Eindhoven by IBM and NXP Semiconductors demonstrate how the connected car automatically shares braking, acceleration and location data that can be analysed by the central traffic authority to identify and resolve road network issues, say the companies. “The trial successfully showed that anonymous information from vehicles can be analysed by local traffic authorities to resolve road network issues faster, reduce congestion and impr
  • June 25, 2018
    Two wheels good
    As cycling becomes an increasingly popular method for commuting and recreation, what moves are afoot to keep the growing numbers of cyclists safe on ever-more-busy roads? Alan Dron puts on his helmet and pedals off to look. It would have seemed incredible just a decade ago, but cycling in London has become almost unfeasibly popular. The Transport for London (TfL) June 2017 Strategic Cycling Analysis document noted there were now 670,000 cycle trips a day in the UK capital, an increase of 130% since 2000.
  • September 4, 2018
    Getting to the point
    Cars are starting to learn to understand the language of pointing – something that our closest relative, the chimpanzee, cannot do. And such image recognition technology has profound mobility implications, says Nils Lenke Pointing at objects – be it with language, using gaze, gestures or eyes only – is a very human ability. However, recent advances in technology have enabled smart, multimodal assistants - including those found in cars - to action similar pointing capabilities and replicate these human qual
  • September 5, 2013
    Jam ahead warning from TomTom
    TomTom has released the latest version of TomTom Traffic which now includes an innovative ‘jam ahead warning’ feature, which pinpoints the precise location of a traffic jam and sends an early-warning alert so that drivers can safely reduce their speed. Available automatically to all existing users, TomTom Traffic also includes new features that further improve routing accuracy. TomTom Traffic now detects road closures and road works automatically on more roads. A new ‘predictive flow feed’ can more accu