Skip to main content

Australian company to supply VMS for London Olympics

Bartco, a traffic management company based in Melbourne, Australia, has won a US$1.92 million contract to supply portable variable message signs (VMS) to Transport for London (TfL) for use during the Olympic Games. Some 200 signs display both directional and security advice to motorists about road conditions during the Olympics, as well as the management of special Olympic Route Network traffic lanes.
June 4, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

5873 Bartco, a traffic management company based in Melbourne, Australia, has won a US$1.92 million contract to supply portable variable message signs (VMS) to 1466 Transport for London (TfL) for use during the Olympic Games. Some 200 signs display both directional and security advice to motorists about road conditions during the Olympics, as well as the management of special Olympic Route Network traffic lanes.

Bartco says it was because of its web based VMS programming and online management system including the superior colour display technology. A key element of the system is that a customer can login and manage all their signs at once through Bartco’s Web Studio technology, enabling live communication with an individual VMS or a network of them.

“We first introduced our VMS colour technology into the UK approximately 18 months ago via our UK partner, Colour Mobile VHS, and it is now used on major UK motorways, by the Met Police and also Heathrow airport,” said Trevor Wollard, co-owner of Bartco. “This has led to the current project for the Olympic Games, which has been a very rewarding experience.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TfL trials cyclist detection
    June 5, 2015
    New world first trials would allow TfL to better cater for cyclists at key junctions Further on-street trials will take place later this year TfL now given blanket approval from DfT to install low-level cycle signals at junctions Transport for London (TfL) is to trial a new technology that will help give cyclists more time on green lights.
  • The future looks bright for ITS
    June 4, 2015
    Professor Eric Sampson talks about the past successes of ITS, its potential for the future and the challenges the industry faces. If anybody should know when Intelligent Transport Systems started that person is Professor Eric Sampson, a visiting professor at both Newcastle and London City Universities. Having spent 40 years working for the UK’s Department of Transport and other public administrations, Professor Sampson now supports the European Commission on ITS systems and advises ERTICO ITS-Europe and ITS
  • Bartco UK launches Queue Detect to help ease congestion
    December 5, 2017
    Bartco UK has launched Queue Detect to help ease congestion on roads and highways by informing road users of potential delays and informing drivers of hazardous stationary traffic ahead. It uses frequency modulated continuous wave radar to detect slow-moving traffic which then notifies a central server to activate pre-planned messages on any number of variable message signs (VMS).
  • UK’s M6 to get VMS to boost safety
    November 18, 2014
    Four of the latest variable message signs (VMS) are to be installed around junction 35 of the M6 motorway at Carnforth, giving drivers better warnings of incidents and other information about the motorway such as weather conditions. As part of the work, new CCTV cameras will be mounted on the VMS signs and standalone masts, allowing Highways Agency traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows to monitor and manage motorway incidents more effectively. A similar, US$2