New technology is being introduced into National Highways’
National Traffic Information Service (NTIS) which will make sure
consistent and reliable information is available on the nation’s
motorways and major A roads.
The service provides information that is vital to help both
National Highways’ operations teams and the emergency services
respond to incidents as efficiently as possible and to keep
traffic moving.
It also helps road users plan their journeys, avoid delays and
stay safe by supplying the latest information to electronic
message signs on the network and journey planning digital
platforms.
Under the new digital infrastructure, National Highways’
operations data is being transferred from a legacy to cloud
infrastructure for the first time. Harnessing the power of the
cloud will enable National Highways to better collect the data
needed to transform how the network is operated.
Alongside this, National Highways (formerly Highways England)
will be able to share accurate and up-to-date information with
road users regarding planned works, delays or any other
congestion which may impact their journey.
National Highways’ Customer Service Director Melanie Clarke said:
This groundbreaking digital transformation will allow us to make
positive changes to the way our roads are run and to vastly
improve the journeys of road users both today and on the roads of
the future.
This is a small part of our Digital Roads strategy which is
reverberating across National Highways fundamentally changing how
our roads are designed, built, operated and used.
Digital transformation leader Sopra Steria has been appointed to
introduce the new system for NTIS over the next five years.
As well as the operational benefits and giving road users better
real-time route planning, the new system, introduced by Sopra
Steria, will support the creation of an innovative digital twin
representation of the strategic road network.
This will be used to map out motorways and major A roads in
England digitally and will use machine learning (ML) and
artificial intelligence (AI) to accurately predict the conditions
of the roads up to 24 hours in advance.
This will help to reduce the impact of both planned events, such
as roadworks and football matches, and unplanned incidents such
as road collisions both by improving the management of the road
network through increased automation and enabling road users to
better plan their journeys.
Adrian Fieldhouse, Managing Director (Government), at Sopra
Steria, said:
We’re delighted to support National Highways’ vision to digitally
transform its strategic road network and provide better
information to road users to enhance their journeys. Sopra
Steria’s proven experience in road traffic management and digital
transformation, as well as agile methodology, will help National
Highways in this significant evolutionary leap to ensure the
continued efficiency and safety of our road network both now and
long into the future.
Meanwhile, TRL – the UK-based global centre for innovation in
transport and mobility - has secured the contract to migrate
National Highways’ Smart Motorway Calibration and Optimisation
(SMCALO) software and services toolkit to the cloud. It will be
working with IT service provider Version 1.
SMCALO is a web-based service that enables National Highways to
visualise traffic and signal data and monitor parameters such as
traffic speeds and flow. It also helps calculate the thresholds
for automatic signals to ensure variable speed limits are only on
when needed. SMCALO also identifies performance issues with
detectors and records when signals are showing.
The new cloud-based solution will enable new data sources to be
incorporated and offer easy access to SMCALO data for all
stakeholders.
The digital transformation of this system will support optimised
traffic flows, reduced vehicle emissions, safer journeys and
reduced journey times.
Ryan Hood, Head of Digitisation of Transport at TRL, said:
This contract win demonstrates TRL’s commitment to support our
clients with their digital transformation activities, combining
TRL’s decades of domain expertise with leading Cloud First
organisations like Version 1. Improved monitoring of the network
is a key component in the integrated approach to road asset
management being championed by TRL, which combines a myriad of
connected tools to help understand and manage highway assets.
Commenting on the two contracts, National Highways Chief Data
Officer Davin Crowley-Sweet added:
“We are ensuring people using our roads are better informed and
have trust in the journey information they access from us, so
that they feel safe and in control of their journeys.
“While today most of our customers are humans informed by data
and technology, the increasing amount of connected and autonomous
vehicle (CAV) technology used in private and commercial vehicles
could mean a future of providing data to self-driving systems. We
must understand this direction and be prepared.”
The contracts are important steps in National Highways’ Digital
Roads strategy.
National Highways has set out its Digital Roads strategy on a new
website and ‘virtual learning environment’. The web pages clearly
set out the company’s Digital Roads 2025 vision for safer and
greener roads and how the growth of digital technology and the
move to electric, connected and autonomous vehicles will
fundamentally change roads in the future.
Visit the Digital
Roads website.
