Liverpool City Region Authority is planning to introduce an intelligent transport system (ITS) with the first implementation on two of its busiest bus routes.
The authority is deploy the system this month on the 86 and 86A routes in the south of the city.
It is being delivered through the region’s Bus Alliance and Liverpool City Council, and financed to the tune of £161,000 through the Local Growth Fund.
The ITS will identify the location of a bus and either extend the green signal or shorten the red signal at traffic lights to ensure it keeps moving. The technology uses Merseytravel’s existing real time information data and existing capabilities in the traffic signal control system. The authority emphasised that it will not require any additional equipment in vehicles or the installation of fixed detectors.
It is understood that the authority plans to assess how the scheme works before taking a decision on extending the system further around the city region.
Backbone
Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Buses are the backbone of our public transport system and we are determined to ensure that we can deliver the service that the people of our city region deserve.
“That is why we are constantly looking for ways to improve and this new development should improve both reliability and punctuality.”
The move is part of a £25 million programme to improve carriageways and structural maintenance, upgrade communications and priorities bus and freight transport on key routes around Liverpool.
Image from the University of Huddersfield
