TRU, Alm.del - 2008-09 - Bilag 540: Forslag til ITS-studietur til Storbritannien

Transport ScotlandScotland’s trunk road network of 3,500 kms is vital because itconnects our cities, rural communities and the ports that serve theislands.The trunk road network in Scotland is hugely diverse - from the ten-lane M8 in the centre of Glasgow, to single carriageways in the WestHighlands. Although it represents just over 6% of the total Scottishroad network it carries 37% of all traffic and 62% of heavy goodsvehicles.It is valued at around £12.5 billion and because it is considered tobe of strategic importance to Scotland's well being, it is under theauthority of the Scottish Ministers.The Transport Scotland team includes dedicated professionals fromall sides of the industry who ensure that:••••Strategic projects are moved forwardRoads and structures are safeTraffic flows are maintainedThe network is available throughout the year

Their aim is to deliver a safe, efficient, reliable and environmentallyacceptable Scottish trunk road network that meets current andfuture needs.The Traffic Scotland Interim Control Centre in central Glasgow hasbeen established to provide the focal point for the monitoring of thetrunk road network, to control traffic to improve the operationalcondition of the network and to share and disseminate information.The service from this control centre operates around the clock,every day of the year, providing up-to-date information on theconditions on the trunk road network across Scotland.Serco was awarded the major traffic monitoring and control systemcontract known as CITRAC/FEDICS in 1992. This contract led to thedevelopment by Serco of the Scottish National Driver Informationand Control System (NADICS) now known as Traffic Scotland.This unique project combines the centrally integrated traffic controlof the urban motorways throughout Glasgow, with the strategictraffic management and driver information for the majority of theScottish trunk road network—with equipment located fromInverness to Gretna and from Edinburgh to Glasgow covering an2

approximate area of road network 200 miles north–south by 60miles east–west.This highly sophisticated and complex integrated trafficmanagement facility is one of the largest traffic control systemcontracts in the world. It is designed to both increase thethroughput of traffic and improve safety on the road network,optimising the use of an already busy road infrastructure at lowerenvironmental and financial cost than the construction of newroads. The system is operated from both central and regionalControl Offices over local and wide area networks, eitherautomatically or with intervention. It provides a number of co-ordinated incident detection and response mechanisms. Theseinclude automatic incident detection and sign setting, closed circuittelevision, emergency telephones, variable message signing, lanesignalling and motorway on-ramp metering.The scope of the system has grown steadily over the years, both inthe geographic area covered and in the number of devices and thefunctionality of operation.Serco have also deployed the Traffic Scotland system into NewSouth Wales, Australia and Hong Kong. These three clients gain thebenefits of having a common core system and collaborate togetherto identify common aims and goals in order to share best practiceand get best value out of system enhancements.England’s National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC),BirminghamIn March 2001 the Highways Agency (HA) selected Serco to deliverand operate its National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC). This £160Mproject gives motorists the information to plan their journeys, avoidtraffic and make the best use of network capacity for the next 10years. The HA manages England's motorways and trunk roads - anetwork representing just 2% of all roads but carrying a third of alltraffic and two-thirds of all freight.As the UK has the most congested roads in Europe (being threetimes busier than Germany and five times as busy as France,Portugal or Austria), the success of the NTCC is key to influencingtraffic movements and selecting the most appropriate response toweather conditions.This means that if a section of road is closed or restricted, thesystem checks the traffic flow and journey times on every3

alternative route. It suggests only those diversions that offertravellers the minimum delay to their journey. The system isintelligent enough to check if any diversionary routes are restrictedby road works or abnormal loads, or if any events nearby are likelyto increase congestion.The NTCC's highly-trained operators work in close co-operation withthe police and any other partners that can influence trafficmovements in the area.Built under a public/private partnership, the NTCC is an exercise inteamwork, taking information from hundreds of operational partnersand fusing it with real-time data from thousands of traffic sensors.All this raw information comes together in a unique Serco-developed decision-support system which can analyse countlessoptions to offer our operators a range of prioritised response plansbased on network conditions at the time.NTCC can reach its target audiences through a variety of channels:••

350 variable message signs at key decision point junctions onthe networkOver 250 operating partners including broadcast media, localhighways authorities, the police, ports and airports, exhibitioncentres, sporting venues and other major traffic generators.The Traffic England(Please note: this link will open the pagein a new browser window) website and interactive telephoneserviceSystem-to-system links with other network operators usingthe Travel Information Highway which is a commonframework for exchanging travel data over the internet