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Government invests in new ways to use data to improve
driving conditions and reduce time drivers spend in traffic
jams.
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Successful bidders from Oxfordshire, York and
Bournemouth win share of £1.5million pot to trial innovative
transport projects.
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Investment could cut road rage felt by frustrated
drivers and promote the decarbonisation of our transport
network.
Tech to cut congestion will get a £1.5million boost through a
government fund for councils and SMEs to promote trial
projects.
The funding forms part of the Govtech Catalyst, a £20
million fund to help solve local transport issues through tech.
This could help reduce the huge cost to the UK economy
resulting from congestion by calming rush hour traffic and
improving air quality and road safety for drivers.
Whether commuting long distances or using public transport for
the school run, the three winning projects will trial new ways
of using data generated by transport in towns and cities to
improve driving conditions for thousands of people.
Driving in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole could soon be
much safer thanks to new software developed by Vivacity. The transport
company’s sustainable software monitors traffic, flagging
incidents in real time, allowing traffic control operators to
respond quickly and stop traffic jams forming.
Working closely with Oxfordshire Council, Technology
SME IM23 is creating a
tool which predicts and tackles congestion by helping traffic
controllers understand how to keep traffic moving while making
efficient improvements to their road network.
Based in York, INRIX’s plans to use
vehicle tracks to map vehicle ‘paths’ optimising and improving
traffic signals in the city. This will allow traffic to flow
more freely, reducing journey times, red lights and stress for
drivers.
The projects will be managed by the Department for Transport
for 12 months.
Transport Secretary said:
“Congestion isn’t just bad for our environment, productivity
and communities – it also has a huge impact on our national
economy. That’s why, as well as our multi-billion-pound
investment in rail and buses to improve connectivity, we are
opening up city centre, transport and traffic management to new
digital innovators.
“Transport technology is a growing global sector with the
potential to help reduce congestion, emissions and improve
connectivity. Today’s competition winners show how world class
UK transport tech companies are helping millions of people in
our towns and cities every day.”
Peter Mildon, Chief Operating Officer, Vivacity
Labs
“Vivacity will be heading a project that looks at how a blend
of data sources and predictive Machine Learning can be combined
to provide proactive traffic management tools to Bournemouth,
Christchurch and Poole Council. Vivacity are excited to be
working with Siemens for this project, with both companies
building on work carried out in Phase 1 of the GovTech
Challenge.”
James Gilchrist, City of York Council assistant
director for transport, highways and environment,
said:
“We are thrilled to be pioneering innovative ways of using data
to improve traffic management in the city. This will help us to
make better informed decisions, reduce congestion, prioritise
road space for sustainable transport and help to increase the
reliability of bus services.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with INRIX
in this GovTech Challenge project to further explore the
Performance Analysis Trajectory Help tool. We have seen real
benefits with the early prototype, and hope that continuing
with this ground-breaking project will lead to a better road
network for residents, visitors and businesses. We will also be
able to share our lessons learned from the project with other
local authorities.”
