Company to develop a real time optimiser solution to support the London transport authority’s Healthy Streets Approach
Transport for London (TfL) has awarded German based company Siemens ITS a contract to develop a next generation traffic control and highways management system.
Under a 10-year programme, the company will deliver a real time optimiser (RTO) solution to help manage the traffic flow around the capital’s road network.
Siemens said the programme will be delivered in three phases. The first will involve the development of a cloud hosted traffic control solution to replace TfL’s existing urban traffic control (UTC) system with the RTO solution.
The company will work on this with TfL’s service delivery team, building on the core functionality of the current system, and adding new features. It is scheduled to go live in a cloud environment during 2020.
Phase two will involve the development of new adaptive control algorithms in a programme currently referred to as Future SCOOT. This phase will be delivered in stages, starting in 2021 for delivery in 2022.
Largest user
London is already the largest single user of SCOOT, which Siemens described as the world’s most widely used adaptive algorithm technology. It will provide TfL with a new mechanism to manage and control the majority of London’s 6,000 traffic intersections.
Under the final phase, to begin when the system first goes live in 2020, Siemens will be responsible for maintaining it throughout the rest of the contract term.
Glynn Barton, director of network management at TfL, said: “We are pleased to be working with Siemens to deliver a world leading upgrade to our road network management system. The benefits to all Londoners include improved responses to incidents, improved data and better customer information, as well as £1billion of benefits through reducing delays for all road users.
“The new real time optimiser system will support our Healthy Streets Approach for London, which aims to improve air quality, reduce congestion and make London’s diverse communities healthier, more sustainable and more attractive places to live, work, play and do business.”
Image by Iridescenti, CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
