Volume 4 Number 4 It’s electrifyingmailers.aladltd.co.uk/digital_issues/SmartHighwaysVol4No4.pdf · smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4 3 FROM THE EDITOR + Smart thinking Ian Patey is Head

The UK’s only ITS and Advanced Traffic Management magazineVolume 4 Number 4

It’s electrifyingHOW TWO ELECTROMOBILITY PROJECTS ARE CHANGING THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORT

BIG INTERVIEWMeet Maha Makoni of Mouchel

THE ATKINS INVESTIGATIONCreating seamless end-to-end mobility

SAFETYSmart motorways, cycling and an Indian view

CONTROL ROOMSManaging the network – including an international view

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smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4 3

FROM THE EDITOR

+ Smart thinking

Ian Patey is Head of Profession, Intelligent Transport at Mouchel Infrastructure [email protected] www.mouchel.com

’m writing this foreword while sitting in a café on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne at the end of a hugely enjoyable ITS World Congress.

There’s more about the event inside this issue, but I thought I’d expand on a few of the thoughts that have struck me through the week.

The engagement of the Australian political class - if I can call it that – this week has been hugely impressive. The Prime Minister himself couldn’t make it here because he has a lot of issues to deal with in Canberra (with a small majority) but he was still engaged enough to record a welcome for the event and to reiterate a commitment to ITS, but other politicians were here, and not just to be seen but to actually ask questions and learn more about the technology.

I wrote in my last foreword after my experiences at the Farnborough Airshow about the need for politicians to be engaged in our industry, and the fact they are in Australia is heartening for them and for our British ITS industries doing business over here.

Even more exciting than the political interest is that of students, aged from around 11 to 16 who filled the exhibition hall at the end of the week. They weren’t just excited about being out of the classroom for a day, they were genuinely engaged with the subject. They had been doing school projects about smart cities or clever transport innovations, and had clearly been enthused about it because they’d worked hard on their ideas. Schoolkids are the same around the world so we should certainly be trying to learn from Australlia as to how they have worked with schools on project ideas. From what I saw, the ITS industry here won’t be short of recruits in the future – will we be so lucky in the UK?

I’ve been making podcasts this week at the event, and if you listen to nothing else, have a listen to the first few minutes of the fourth programme which features three remarkable young talents. Of course, ideally you’ll have listened to all four!

And what did the ITS World Congress tell me about the industry in the UK? That we still are extremely respected around the world, and British expertise is in demand. British and European companies have ample opportunities to collaborate with Australian businesses, who are keen to bring the best of technology to their market, while the roads authorities are engaged in finding technological solutions to their problems with maybe a little less risk aversion that their counterparts this side of the globe can sometimes be guilty of.

It’s with a heavy heart that I drag myself to the airport home, but I am heartened that our industry has so many opportunities and so many solutions to the issues faced by travellers all around the world. It’s up to the public and private sectors to work together to make it happen.

Finally, a quick thank you to the eight sponsors (who are listed on the World Congress page) for making my trip here possible. It was the best World Congress I’ve been to, and I’m grateful to have made the journey.

I

The editor writes from the other side of the world about the ITS World Congress

Paul Hutton

“ Why can’t we use Travel Demand Management to

support the easing of congestion throughout the year leading to a gradual but permanent change

in travel behaviour? ”

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smartHIGHWAYSVol 4 No 4

Supported by ITS UK

smartHIGHWAYS EDITORIAL BOARD

Nabil Abou-Rahme Director, Transport Technology, Mott MacDonald

Denis Naberezhnykh, Head of Low Carbon Vehicles and ITS Technology at TRL

Sharon Kindleysides, Managing Director, Kapsch UK and former Chairman, ITS (UK)

Lee Woodcock, Technology Director, Atkins Highways and Transportation

t @SmartHighwaysM | www.smarthighways.net

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CONTENTS

+ Volume 4 Number 4


06 TOP ITS STORIES• Smart Motorway safety concerns, Average Speed Camera benefits and PTV acquires British logistics modelling company

NEWS REVIEW

“ Why can’t we use Travel Demand Management to

support the easing of congestion throughout the year leading to a gradual butt permanent change

in travel behaviour? ”

11 BIG INTERVIEWMara Makoni from Mouchel talks about her childhood in

Zimbabwe, Gates Foundation work and how ITS can learn from

International Development

20 THE ATKINS INVESTIGATIONFrom Transport to Mobility – creating seamless journeys

26 SEE WHERE ZeEUS WILL TAKE YOUHigh capacity electric vehicles are closer than

you think

28 WHAT DOES A GOOD TRANSPORT ENERGY SYSTEM LOOK LIKE?The growth in plug-in vehicles

34 KEEPING SE ENGLAND MOVINGRoad Authorities’ collaborative traffic management

36 A TALE OF TWO CITIESSwapping TfL’s control room for a new start in Saudi

38 POWER SAVINGMaking control room displays less energy hungry

40 CONNECTING SAFETYKeeping smart motorway drivers safe in a

connected world

44 GOING UNDERGROUNDHow reliable monitoring is vital for tunnel safety

46 INDIAN LIVESHow technology’s needed to reduce the death toll on India’s roads

48 SAFER CYCLINGCamera technology supports a dedicated bike scheme for Liverpool

56 ITS UK NEWS & THE LAST WORDNew strategic corridors and smart phone safety

FEATURES

52 Highways Magazine Excellence Awards54 World Congress Melbourne

EVENTS

26 ELECTRIC BUSES

38CONTROL

ROOMS

40 SAFETY

52 HMEA 2016 – AWARDS ROUND-UP

16 JENNIE MARTIN 18 DAVID BONN25 CHRIS MOORE31 MARK PLEYDELL 32 ANDY GRAHAM50 STEPHEN LADYMAN

COLUMNISTS


28 ELECTROMOBILITY INTEGRATION

36

11

44


smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4

NEWS REVIEW

he Transport Select Committee is insisting the government

must not ignore safety concerns presented by its recent All Lane Running report.

In the report, published in June, the TSC warned that government should not proceed with ‘All lane running’ schemes while major safety concerns exist. The Committee argued that the permanent conversion of the hard shoulder into a running lane is a radical change to the nature of motorways and creates a real challenge for motorists.

However, it says ministers seem determined to press ahead with the latest design of all lane running schemes, thereby ignoring concerns expressed by MPs and other motoring organisations.

Louise Ellman, chair of the Transport Select Committee, commented: “The Department for Transport is blatantly ignoring the safety concerns set

out in our report. We had barely received the response to our report before the government endorsed an all lane running scheme on the M4.

“The Committee isn’t arguing with the government about the need for more capacity on our motorways, or their statement that motorways are our safest roads. We support smart motorways such as the M42 scheme.

“But we take real issue with the government’s assertion that all lane running schemes on motorways are no different

to other types of roads without hard shoulders. Motorways are a different class of road and drivers have different expectations when using them.

“In the same response, Ministers recognise that the public needs to learn about variable speed limits and compliance with Red X signals on these motorways. Even then, we believe that education will fail without enforcement and ministers need to ensure that failure to comply is backed up with effective enforcement.

“The Committee remains

concerned about the size and spacing of Emergency Refuge Areas. While we are pleased that Highways England has committed to a review, the M4 proposal should not have gone ahead until the review is complete.

“We are not the only people who are worried about this incarnation of All lane running schemes. In the course of our inquiry, there were genuine concerns raised by the emergency services, road workers and recovery operators. The government cannot ignore them.”

T

06 t @SmartHighwaysM | www.smarthighways.net

Remember to keep an eye on the Smart Highways website and Twitter feed for all the big stories affecting ITS in the UK. You can read about product launches, personnel changes and policy announcements, plus research and international matters of importance. And make sure you’re signed up for our weekly email 7 Days in ITS where we summarise the main stories into one place for you. It arrives every Monday morning giving you a professional briefi ng to start your working week. Here are some of the most-clicked stories over the past few weeks:

The Global Infrastructure group AECOM has hired John Priestland as Chief Executive, Major Bids and Corporate Development, Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. Reporting to EMIA Chief Executive Steve Morriss, Priestland will serve as a member of the EMIA Executive team and will focus on growing AECOM’s business across all markets in the region. He will be based in London.

John’s career spans strategy and major pursuits, as well as mergers and acquisitions, in the built environment sector. He was previously Global Strategy and Major Pursuits Director at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Between 2009 and 2015 he served on the Executive Main Board at Hyder Consulting, which was acquired by Arcadis in 2014. He has also held

senior roles at Atkins and Amey. Commenting on his appointment, John added, “AECOM’s reputation and global reach is unrivalled in the industry. At a time of increasing change – for example in the use of technology and integration across the whole design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) cycle – AECOM is ideally placed to be the industry leader.”

AECOM appoints new exec to “drive growth”

Select committee warns DfT not to ignore smart motorway concerns



NEWS REVIEW

The use of average speed cameras has been found, on average, to cut the number of crashes resulting in death or serious injury by more than a third. Research published today for the RAC Foundation by Road Safety Analysis found that on average – having allowed for natural variation and overall trends – the number of fatal and serious collisions decreases by 36% after average speed cameras are introduced.

The average reduction in personal injury collisions of all severities was found to be 16%.

By the end of 2015 there were at least 50 stretches of road in Great Britain permanently covered by average speed cameras keeping a total length of 255 miles under observation. The 50 stretches ranged in length from under half a mile in Nottingham to 99 miles on the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness in Scotland. Many of these stretches of road will be monitored by several sets of cameras.

The first stretch of road to become permanently managed

by average speed cameras was part of the A6514 Ring Road in Nottingham back in 2000. At least 12 systems were installed last year alone.

One reason for the increase in usage has been the reduction in the installation costs of permanent average speed camera systems. The cost of permanent average speed cameras is now typically around £100,000 per mile, compared with around £1.5m per mile in the early 2000s.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said, “the indications are that compliance with average speed

cameras is generally high; now this research reveals the sizeable impact they can have in reducing death and serious injuries.

As the cost of technology continues to fall, more and more authorities are considering whether to install average speed cameras and so it will be important to ensure that casualty and compliance data is openly available so we can continue to assess and understand the road safety benefits they deliver.”

Geoff Collins, the Sales & Marketing Director for average speed camera supplier Jenoptik added, “We have been designing and delivering average speed solutions for years now, with our own analysis of the casualty data proving beyond doubt that when appropriately used, SPECS cameras have a dramatic influence on driver behaviour and casualties. I am delighted that independent research has now backed up these claims and I look forward to continued uptake of the technology.”


Average speed cameras cut crashes by a third – research

■ After the departure of CHRIS

URMSON from the project, Google

has hired Airbnb executive

Shaun Stewart as a director for

its autonomous vehicle group.

Stewart had previously been head

of vacation rentals at AirBnB and

before that worked for a division of

TripAdvisor. The website TechCrunch

calls the appointment a “good fi t”,

because his expertise revolves

around short-term travel rentals

and getting services off the ground,

which it adds is important when the

concept of a driverless taxi is still

brand new with details that need to

be pinned down in the years ahead.

■ CUBIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

has opened its UK-based Global

Operations Centre (GOC), which

is aimed at expanding and

strengthening the company’s ITS

offerings around the world.

The GOC is located in Stockton-on-

Tees, the home of its intelligent

transportation management

system (ITMS) operations, and the

company says gives Cubic proximity

to a “vast base of potential, qualifi ed

recruits, further establishing the

new operations centre that will

build on the company’s already

impressive services footprint and

help fuel future growth”.

“As our fi rst global operations hub,

the GOC will augment our services

operations already onsite in these

multiple locations,” said Min Wei,

senior vice president, operations,

Cubic Transportation Systems.

NEWS in brief

Millennials embracing sharing economyA survey suggests younger business travellers are “driving technological change” as consumer travel habits continue to impact the business travel experience and corporate travel policy.

The study by GBTA Global Business Traveler Sentiment Index with American Express spoke to 405 UK business travellers to examine satisfaction with all aspects of business travel, and pinpoint the use of technological innovation.

The research found that just over half of company

travel policies now allow use of ride share services, which the report suggests means many companies have ensured their policy refl ects the new providers and technologies available. Over the next three months, just over one-in-ten (11%) UK business travellers think they will increase their use of ride share services, such as Uber and Lyft. It says this is primarily driven by younger travellers – with more than a quarter (28%) of millennials saying they will increase their use of ride share services. None of those over

the age of 55 surveyed have plans to increase usage.

Home sharing usage is not yet as widespread as other shared services. Just 28% of company travel policies allow home sharing services, such as Airbnb and HomeAway to be used. However, almost one in ten respondents (9%) think they will imminently increase their use of home share services. The age divide is, again, evident with 22% of Millennials saying they will do so, compared to only 1% of those over 55 years old.



NEWS REVIEW

he Secretary General of the International Transport Forum (ITF) has told a

conference in Detroit that smart methods for sharing vehicles hold the key to solving cities’ mobility issues, from congestion and air quality to better access to jobs or education.

José Viegas (pictured) made the comments at the World Mobility Leadership Forum in September where he said the most negative impacts of current urban mobility patterns stem from what he called “the extraordinarily ineffi cient” use of the private car. While a car is one of the most capital-intensive investments households make, on average it is used 50 minutes out of 24 hours and carries 1.2 to 1.6 passengers, he explained.

But he added that traditional public transport is not attracting enough passengers to contain the growth of car traffi c in cities because few people accept

two or more transfers given an alternative. Crowded buses or trams are another issue for potential users.

Car sharing is no panacea either, he added, saying it does little to reduce the total vehicle mileage and may even increase solo driving if prices are low enough.

He says that, based on real mobility data from Lisbon, Portugal, ITF modellers replaced all scheduled buses and private cars in that city with shared taxis and on-demand 8- and 16-seater minibuses. The shared taxis

offer door-to-door service and the minibuses a streetcorner-to-streetcorner service (max. 400m walk, no transfer needed, seating guaranteed). They are complemented by the existing high-capacity metro/subway.

The simulation shows a dramatic improvement in urban mobility, but also the liveability of a city because only 3% of today’s number of vehicles were needed to provide the same trips, 95% of current parking space parking would no longer required and available for different uses, congestion disappears, with 23% to 37% fewer vehicle

miles travelled and traffi c CO2 emissions fall by 34%, without any new technology.

He says there would also be knock-on effects with a reduction of vehicle miles travelled should be expected as walking and cycling conditions improve dramatically, further reductions of CO2 emissions as clean technologies are more quickly adopted due to quicker replacement of intensively used vehicles and much better and more equal access to jobs, health services and educational institutions.

“Smart sharing is a key component for the future of urban mobility”, Viegas said. “The challenge will be to manage the transition. One way could be to limit the access of private cars to a city centre to two days per week. This would already lead to a palpable improvement, with 15% less congestion and CO2 emissions.”

To further test the model, the ITF is preparing similar simulations for more cities, including Dublin.

T


The MP for Dartford has warned that frequent traffic problems at the Dartford Crossing could prove fatal to a vulnerable person trapped in a queue.

Conservative Gareth Johnson was reacting to a series of long delays at the crossing, including the closure of the tunnels on a Sunday which was blamed on a power cut, meaning the height sensors on the northbound approach did not work. It led to drivers complaining of being stuck in queues for five hours.

Mr Johnson is calling for contingency plans to cope with what he thinks are becoming regular problems. He told KentOnline, “Every few days

people are getting stuck on the motorway, or on Dartford’s surrounding roads, due to a major incident at the crossing. I contacted the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling on his first day in the job and I have explained to him that the situation in Dartford is now unbearable. I am waiting to hear what he will do.”

He fears that the delays could cost the life of someone relying on medication who were disproportionately affected by the delays. “I have told Highways England people want action. We want to know what is being done to try and mitigate these problems.”

Someone “may die” in Dartford Crossing queues

Smart Mobility key to cities’ liveability – ITF

PTV Group’s CEO says his company’s acquisition of British company Distribution Planning Software International (DPS) will double revenue for its logistics software business in the UK, Sweden and South Africa.

It’s announced the acquisition of the Birmingham-based company saying its DPS Route Optimiser product enhances the existing PTV product range by adding trip optimisation to its cloud solutions. Logistics companies now have easier access to

powerful technology in today’s

connected environments.

Vincent Kobesen, CEO of the PTV Group,

explained, “the integration of DPS,

with all its employees, products and offi ces, into our group of companies has come at exactly the right time. It enables us to further extend the geographical coverage for our logistics software business in the UK, Sweden and South Africa, gaining new planning and optimisation products at the same time.”

PTV says acquisition of British company “is at the right time”



NEWS REVIEW

Audi, BMW and Daimler are teaming up with leading businesses in the mobile industry to form the ‘5G Automotive Association’ which they say will develop solutions addressing road safety and self-driving through connected car solutions.

Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia and Qualcomm, technology firm Intel and the auto manufacturers say they will develop and test communications solutions with applications “such as connected automated driving, ubiquitous access to services and integration into smart cities and intelligent transportation”.

The Mobile Live website says the project is already being regarded as a way for the mobile and car industries to build technology expertise necessary to take on new rivals like Uber and Google, which are also working on autonomous driving technology.

The group’s work will extend to supporting standardisation, while accelerating commercial availability and global market penetration.

The 5G aspect of the partnership will focus on the shift towards IoT and digitalisation of industries, which includes the development of car specific solutions like Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) communication.

It explained that 5G will be better placed to support mission critical communications for safer driving, and “will further support enhanced vehicle to everything communications and mobility solutions”.

Meanwhile the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Microsoft have signed a global, multiyear

agreement to partner on next-generation technologies which they say will “advance connected driving experiences worldwide”.

The companies will work together to develop next-generation connected services for cars powered by Microsoft Azure, one of the company’s intelligent cloud offerings. They hope these new services will improve customer experience via advanced navigation, predictive maintenance and vehicle-centric services, remote monitoring of car features, external mobile experiences and

over-the-air updates.“A car is becoming

increasingly connected, intelligent and personal,” said Ogi Redzic, Renault-Nissan Alliance senior vice-president, Connected Vehicles and Mobility Services. “Partnering with Microsoft allows us to accelerate the development of the associated key technologies needed to enable scenarios our customers want and build all-new ones they haven’t even imagined. We aim to become the provider of connected mobility for everyone with one single global platform.”

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is working on affordable autonomous driving and connectivity features on mainstream, mass-market vehicles. The Alliance aims to develop connectivity technologies and features to support the launch of more than 10 vehicles with autonomous driving technology by 2020 with services to maximise better use of newly found in-car free time.

Microsoft Azure provides a secure global cloud platform with unlimited scale that allows Renault-Nissan to deliver services worldwide to its broad customer base.

Renault-Nissan say they selected Azure in part because of its enterprise-grade security and Microsoft’s rigorous commitment to compliance. In addition they say Azure supports multiple operating systems, programming languages and tools, providing flexibility and choice to build a common platform for Renault-Nissan to deploy services to both Alliance brands.

“While the connected car experience is in its infancy, we believe there’s so much potential to dramatically change the industry. We are partnering to accelerate Renault-Nissan’s mobile and cloud strategies and unlock new experiences for their customers,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president, Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, Microsoft.

“Renault-Nissan is an exceptional partner thanks to its global presence and range of brands, which enable it to bring entirely new mobile and digital experiences to so many people. This collaboration will bring a new standard to connected cars.”


Tech giants and car makers to drive 5G car vision together

New name for Siemens businessSiemens has renamed its UK traffi c business from Traffi c Solutions to Intelligent Traffi c Systems (ITS). The company says the name better refl ects the company’s focus on intelligence within its traffi c management activities, products and systems and aligns the UK business with the company’s global operations.

Earlier this year, Siemens started a Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) project, in a collaborative

partnership to create what it says is one of the most advanced environments for CAV technologies

in the UK. Together with nine other consortium members, the UK Connected Intelligent Transport Environment (UK CITE) project will see trials on UK roads as early as next year, following a successful application for funding from the government’s £100 million Intelligent Mobility Fund.


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11

BIG INTERVIEW

+ Mara Makoni

Below: Mara moved from Mutare, Zimbabwe, to Dorking, England

smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4 t @SmartHighwaysM | www.smarthighways.net

So you were born and brought up in Zimbabwe, what brought you to Britain?

I was born the eldest of a family of two, which eventually became an extended family of 8 - with a colourful set of characters (I remember the fights over

Mara Makoni is one of the rising stars of British ITS. A consultant at Mouchel, she is also the founding chair of the ITS (UK)’s Young Professionals Interest Group and is benefi tting the industry by using her experience of international development to help bring new approaches to solving problems. Paul Hutton caught up with her to fi nd out more…

INTERVIEW BY PAUL HUTTON

Q

was educated here in the 70s in Newcastle and at that time could identify benefits of uprooting us from Zimbabwe and moving us to the UK.

I loved the idea of boarding school. Personally, it taught me to be very responsible, independent and made me develop a passion for service. During my time at Box Hill I was the House Captain, a school prefect and captained Sports and Cultural activities. I was always happy to serve and volunteer my time and resources when asked. On the downside, it started raising questions about whether I could say ‘no’ or understand when I was overcommitted.

The moment I was asked to start school a year earlier than my peers planted the seed for the idea that I was to be a doctor. This career path is something that was often dubbed the ‘African parent’s dream’: the epitome of academic success. I played along with this ‘dream’ throughout my earlier years and the early stages of high school. Towards the end of my A levels I realised I wasn’t really fit for this career path. I decided to bring down the proverbial ‘lead balloon’ by announcing I’d chosen a career in Marine Biology. Obviously this went down a treat, given Zimbabwe is a landlocked country (meaning I kept getting asked how I’d ever be of service to my country) and being

dishwashing, where we sat in the car or at the dinner table and who got to lead evening prayer at my grandparents’). I lived in Zimbabwe till the age of 16. Just before I turned 17 I moved from a boarding school in Mutare, Zimbabwe to one in Dorking, Surrey. The idea was to allow me to better transition into university life abroad. My mum

The becoming of Mara Makoni



BIG INTERVIEW

+ Mara Makoni

reminded this career wasn’t medicine or accounting. I took a gap year after A levels to regroup and make peace…

Q After your fi rst degree at Loughborough you moved onto

Mouchel...My first degree, from Loughborough University, was in Systems Engineering (specialising in Human Factors). It was an unexpected opportunity that arose following a dispute with my mother about going on holiday to Kenya before confirming a university place.

I went with the first offer on the table (seeing as my flight was in two days). This offer came about when the then program director from Loughborough University called me and insisted I was the perfect fit for this course. Left with no choice and the prospect of a sunny beach in Mombasa in Kenya, I gladly accepted. After all, something which sold solving complexity sounded cool. It turned out he was very right. Systems thinking and human factors were the perfect fit for me. There I continued with my love for basketball and I eventually chaired the women’s basketball and was awarded club colours.

After university I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to go into the military type of systems engineering which is where most students on my BAE sponsored course would default to. I stumbled across the Mouchel website as I was job hunting. I applied to the company because they did not have a requirement for me to complete a laborious application form. All I had


to do was upload my CV. Perfect!! The world of and the term ITS was a mystery, but I was quite drawn to the word ‘systems’ which aligned quite well with my academic pursuits.

I joined Mouchel as a graduate in 2009. I soon realised this had been (again by coincidence) the perfect fit for me. I enjoyed the team I worked within the Ops & Safety workstream. It was a great year with lots of opportunities to learn and grow within the business. I left Mouchel in 2010 and went to work in Kenya in the international development sector.

Q Tell me more…I spent six months working in

Kenya for a Gates Foundation project in an agribusiness role. Here I worked alongside some leading strategy consultants doing some analytical work on dairy market expansion strategies across East Africa. I also

found interest in a Nike funded programme teaching entrepreneurial skills to high school girls in slums across Nairobi. Of my two strands of work, working with these girls was the most fulfilling. I learnt a great deal from this experience.

While I still believe education is a key factor in facilitating social mobility and inclusion, I also learnt that 90 per cent of being successful is linked to being confident. In most cases I ditched the given syllabus and made my lessons about being confident and feeling comfortable taking active roles from an economic standpoint in society; learning the maths behind running a business was secondary in my humble opinion. I was lucky this was well received by the girls and Nike Foundation never caught wind of this.

From a diversity and inclusion perspective, in order to empower any marginalised groups in society you have to instil confidence and a great sense of belonging. Simply teaching business skills, where groups of people felt detached from being empowered enough to take active roles in society, to me was self-defeating. Equally mentoring these girls made me realise just how impactful and crucial the roles of mentor and mentee were to personal and professional development.

Personally I learnt two great lessons at this stage in my life. Lesson 1: Any privilege I had had in life was not an opportunity to play captain saviour in people’s lives. I didn’t know any better and I wasn’t any better. I too was on my very

Alma mater: Mara’s old school at Box Hill in Surrey

“ I’d chosen a career in Marine Biology… obviously this went down a treat, given Zimbabwe is a landlocked country ”

“ I loved the idea of boarding school. Personally, it taught me to be very responsible, independent and made me develop a passion for service... ”


young journey of self-development. Lesson 2: The world of development aid (from both governments and local charities) was starting to look very unconvincing. On average about 8 NGO initiatives had in some way interacted/intervened with each of the girl’s lives over a 3 year period. The effectiveness and impact of some of these interventions could not be easily identified. The projects, (be it water, education, etc), were often short lived and unsustainable.

Q Do you think development projects are better funded by

Government or big business, or even charitable donations directly for specifi c smaller projects? The shortcomings of development

interventions and policies are numerous, and serious enough to raise questions about the sustainability and resilience of the practice along the entire value chain.

I had experience both from being on the ground and reading some key material like for example Graham Hancock’s book ‘Lords of Poverty’ (a book from the 80s, the truth of which we are living today). Both these experiences allowed me to conclude that globally, we need to pause and reflect on donor motives in giving assistance and the true needs of beneficiaries. Solutions and outputs forced on users or beneficiaries can often be patronising and only perpetuate a culture of a ‘saviour complex’ both at an individual and

organisation level. A key learning outcome here

was that we can go into places, as developers/providers of solutions, with all the right intentions, intellect and capability, but if we don’t genuinely take time to engage the beneficiaries or at the very least walk in their shoes, we do set ourselves up for failure.

Q Back to your career, you studied an MPhil in Engineering for

Sustainable Development at Cambridge. How did you fi nd being a postgrad in the hallowed halls?Staying in St John’s College accommodation was a treat. Walking across the grand college every day made waking up to attend early morning lectures or basketball training sessions exciting. Similar to my current role at Guildford Cathedral, I also served as an acolyte in the beautiful St John’s Chapel. Sundays were the best days. I felt it an honour to have served the chapel alongside the world renowned choir of St John’s College.

13

BIG INTERVIEW

+ Mara Makoni


Hancock’s book ‘Lords of Poverty’ (a book from the 80s, the truth of which

experiences allowed me to conclude that globally, we need to pause and reflect on donor motives in giving assistance and the true needs of beneficiaries. Solutions and outputs

can often be patronising and only perpetuate a culture of a ‘saviour complex’ both at an individual and

accommodation was a treat. Walking across the grand college every day made waking up to attend early morning lectures or basketball training sessions exciting. Similar to my current role at Guildford Cathedral, I also served as an acolyte in the beautiful St John’s Chapel. Sundays were the best days. I felt it an honour to have served the chapel alongside the world renowned choir of St John’s College.

Mara spent six months working on an agribusiness project with the Gates Foundation in Kenya

Above right: Mara served as an acolyte alongside the renowned St John’s College Choir at Cambridge


http://www.wdm.co.uk


BIG INTERVIEW

+ Mara Makoni

14

I loved every minute of Cambridge. Every day was a life-changing experience. I learnt a lot about my values, motivators and how to navigate to where I wanted to be in 20 years’ time. The best part of this experience was learning from other people’s experience and perspective on all matters personal and academic. However, on a few occasion the imposter syndrome would creep up on me. I would wake up every morning wishing my ‘life-purpose fairy’ had left a gift for me under my pillow. There was something bigger out there surely? Was I missing the boat on greatness?

Some spark of greatness eventually appeared for a brief second. The highlight of my time (or life) was being asked to debate at the famous Cambridge Union in proposition of the motion “This house believes foreign aid has done Africa more harm than good”. A motion which had attracted Lord Boateng and Mo Ibrahim in opposition. This was the most daunting platform I have ever been on. I didn’t do so well. We lost what was a difficult motion to propose anyway. However I did come away with the lesson that being young and not as experienced (in political debate and public speaking in this case) should never be barriers to getting your point across and being confident that your contribution and passion are valid. Every idea has a home. In part this has been at the core of what shapes my dedication/passion for serving the Young Professionals in their ITS (UK) group and ITS (UK) in general.

Q After your MPhil in sustainable development you moved back to

Mouchel as a consultant – was it that you saw ITS as an obvious solution for many of the problems you’d studied?I closed the Cambridge University chapter of my life after submitting my thesis on the effectiveness of development aid in rebuilding the water and sanitation sector in Zimbabwe after the cholera outbreak. Where next? I had opined enough on this matter of development aid.

The Engineering for

Sustainable Development MPhil course had been about developing the students to be thought leaders within our respective industries and catalysts of change and innovation. That toolkit included adopting a systems approach to managing large and complex problems. Of course transport and technology made sense….. so back home to Mouchel I went.

Something ground-breaking and new is always exciting in technology. The talk of mobility as a service was a big draw - redefining the travelling experience, bringing in a more diverse skillset to tackle this new dimension of complexity brought about by the concept of mobility as a service and thinking ‘smart’ about solutions.

Q How can the developing world benefi t from some of the big

topics in ITS at the moment, such as MaaS and autonomous technology?I would look at this the other way round. I think some topics in ITS can benefit from some successful technology outcomes from the developing world. MPESA, the mobile banking platform, was a brilliant demonstration of two things.

The first being of the importance of asking the right question from the perspective of the end users. Ask not what technology can do for you but instead ask what a user wants to achieve and what technology is available to allow the user to achieve this. The second being that

mobile phones and connectivity

are continuously allowing us to challenge or redefine our use of (large?) infrastructure.

Q You’re still relatively young for our industry, in 20 years’

time, what would you like to have achieved?At the moment my two short term goals that are transport related are to learn to drive and eliminate my fear of flying. The latter being the most difficult.

We are living in interesting times, as the Chinese curse would have it, and if anything I am grateful to have been part of this wave of disruptive technology. A time that will require our sector to look at attracting a diverse skillset to help face the increasingly complex socioeconomic challenges posed by future mobility trends.

I strongly believe we must always be a reflection of those we wish to serve in society. Successful outcomes, especially in technology, are hugely dependent on inclusivity and the extent to which we engage beneficiaries, ie consumers, in their development.

I want to serve as a role model. I think it’s safe to say that one thing is very certain: in 20 years’ time I will no longer be chairing the YPIG! I would like to look back on my 20 years of experience and feel I contributed towards delivering the message that diversity is everything in any industry or sector.

When I stand back and reflect on those 20 years I should feel I had used every opportunity, especially those in leadership, to be of service to my sector and to have grabbed every opportunity to have learnt from the many ‘greats’ in my profession.

Granted 20 years is a very long time away, I always like to quote Abraham Lincoln, “I will prepare and someday my chance will come”.


Mobile banking platform MPESA shows how ITS can benefi t from solutions coming out of the developing world

development you moved back to Mouchel as a consultant – was it that you saw ITS as an obvious solution for many of the problems you’d studied?

The first being of the importance of asking the right question from the perspective of the end users. Ask not what technology can do for you but instead ask what a user wants to achieve and what technology is available to allow the user to achieve this. The second being that

mobile phones and connectivity

“ I always like to quote Abraham Lincoln, ‘I will prepare and someday my chance will come...’ ”


+44 (0) 1275 818008 [email protected] www.crown-international.co.uk

Poles Apart


http://www.crown-international.co.uk

THE VIEW

+ ITS UK

y coincidence, I have recently had a lot of contact with Maltese Intelligent Transport Systems. First, I was asked to meet with

the person in charge of setting up Malta’s first national transport control centre. Very slightly later, I spent a week’s holiday on the island using its transport systems and seeing its existing ITS from the user point of view, something I have done regularly over the past twenty-five or so years… though not observing much ITS for the first twenty.

This “time-lapse” form of observation is very instructive and Malta itself is a mini version of many European transport scenarios. The towns and cities were laid out long before the era of motorised transport meaning streets are narrow and buildings organised with no idea that parking would be needed at some point in the future.

There are many places in the world starting out as ITS users but most are not easy for us to study and understand. Distance makes visiting difficult, language is a barrier to understanding, and cultural and societal differences get in the way. Malta has none of these barriers and anybody in Europe interested in what it means to be a first time ITS adopter and what best practice may look like in this scenario can easily grasp what is being done there.

The first visible ITS to be found are the new Variable Message Signs, dotted about the interurban network and interestingly, mainly dedicated to road safety messaging. Malta has some way to go to reach the low KSI per kilometre travelled achieved in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands. This has clearly been adopted as a priority in terms of messaging drivers. It put me in mind of the Transport Scotland approach, where safety messages are given a lot of prominence. Travel time messaging is absent, even though it would be possible to source the data to provide it. One wonders if this is connected with the lack of alternatives.

Moving on to the buses, the famous colourful (and rattling) Maltese buses are now well and truly in the past. What is of interest is that on this visit, I first observed smartcard tickets in ubiquitous use, and on-bus information announcements which both worked and were accurate. These audio and visual announcements are bilingual. The Maltese bus service developments over the last fifteen years are startling to say the least, and as somebody who has used Transport for London buses every day during the same period, I have a high benchmark for regular and impactful technical improvements.

The bus services are absolutely essential to the functioning of transport in Malta. Distances are short, the road network is of limited capacity and not capable of meaningful expansion, and parking capacity is in the same situation. In this way, the island is a micro-version of the UK. If the millions of visitors felt that they needed to hire a car to make the most of their holiday, gridlock would ensue. The Maltese authorities have worked extremely hard to get to the current state of bus service provision, with modern, accessible, air conditioned buses which usually run as time-tabled, provide cashless ticketing options and electronic information on bus and at stop, and generally make bus journeys as easy as they can be. The main bus hub outside the capital Valletta has obvious, large, simple posters showing all the main bus destinations and which stop serves them. I failed to find something like that at the Penzance bus station earlier in the year and it was only the kindness of strangers which got me to St Ives without mishap.

Looking at an “emerging ITS nation” like Malta is instructive. By a successful ITS implementation we surely mean one that delivers value for money to transport users who ultimately fund it through taxation and fares. In order to achieve this, integration and a continuous effort to dismantle organisational structures which are no longer helpful are essential. It is never the technology which gets in the way, it is always organisational issues – sometimes by ruling out honest conversations about what the technology can and cannot do at what cost. And while a new adopter of ITS like Malta has the privilege of using tried and tested mainstream technology, unlike the early adopters elsewhere of the 1980s, it still has to contend with organisational structures which sometimes make a virtue of having existed since the Middle Ages. Implementing ITS needs political with a small p and strategic skills in addition to technical expertise.

BITS (UK)’s Secretary General sends an “ITS postcard from Malta”

Jennie Martin


Jennie Martin is Secretary General of ITS (UK)[email protected]




http://www.mobilevms.co.uk


THE VIEW

+ In my experience...


f there is a way in which we in the industry can support improving road safety especially in the more rural areas, then we

should give it serious consideration. As someone who spends much of his time driving on roads where there is little or no intelligent infrastructure the thought of virtual infrastructure helping me be safer is one in which I am very interested.

With the use of smart devices becoming more commonplace in cars it is reasonable to make use of such devices assuming they can be configured to provide information to support safe driving and not as a distraction to the driver. There is also the sat nav route which hasn’t made the incorporation of third party app data into its display an easy option as yet. What then would the virtual infrastructure look like when displayed in-car and who would define what it looked like? It is expected that while the source of incident data may come from drivers, social media, police and mobile data analysis, it would still be down to the traffic managers to confirm the validity of an incident and its location.

Once validated, the central traffic management system would deliver the location data and the other associated available information, such as expected duration, severity, lanes affected etc which would then be communicated to drivers in that location who are likely to be impacted by the incident. The instructions given to the driver would include a recommended speed, defined by the central system in line with national response plans for that type of road. Any indication of need to change lanes, distance ahead etc would also be conveyed visually and verbally to the driver. The screen would show incident location and speed restrictions by using graphics to show the virtual infrastructure. The app or the sat nav would determine, from the vehicle’s location and direction of travel, whether each vehicle was likely to be affected by the incident. As it approached the incident, the app would display the recommended speed reduction and/or lane restriction information. This would enable the driver to approach the area of the incident at a slower and hence safer speed. The same app could send data back to confirm that the vehicle had indeed joined the back of a queue associated with that incident enabling the central system to dynamically expand the distance from the actual incident.

The central system would then start to inform drivers of the incident a greater distance

before the actual incident thereby helping protect the back of the queue in

a similar way to that implemented on today’s motorways.

As autonomous vehicles become more popular it is likely that on-road infrastructure will be supplemented with in-vehicle virtual infrastructure.

The ability to advise the autonomous vehicle to respond to adverse conditions

ahead is a key safety feature. Through the deployment and validation of control through

the use of virtual infrastructure we will be better placed to understand how best to provide that information in the future.

In the longer term it is reasonable to expect that virtual infrastructure will be the standard. This will add to safe operations on the roads by removing the need for maintenance staff to stop at the roadside. It will also reduce the number of lane closures required to enable staff to access overhead structures. This, however, is many years away.

Mobile communications is a key requisite for this approach to be adopted. Clearly with the expanded deployment of 4G as the replacement for Tetra Radio across the UK then we should see an improvement of availability of a 4G signal across the more rural areas of the UK. This enhanced mobile connectivity capability will also see the adoption of enhanced data sets being made available from vehicles. These data sets will enhance the situational awareness for operational staff in traffic control centres. Using such data operational staff will be able to make more informed decisions on the most appropriate response to an incident at a particular location.

With many mobile devices equipped with camera technology, it is now possible for images of an incident to be transmitted securely back to a central location and for those images to then be made available to operational staff and key stakeholders. These images can be geocoded to ensure the accurate positioning of the incident is presented to the control centre staff.

Supporting safety can take many forms. Virtual infrastructure is something that can be used alongside physical infrastructure to support better information being provided to drivers regarding incidents ahead enabling them to drive with greater care and caution, improving road safety.

IDavid asks how “virtual infrastructure” can improve safety

David BonnDavid Bonn is a Director of Bonn Business

Solutions Limited based in [email protected].

Bonnbusinesssolutions.co.uk

“




http://Bonnbusinesssolutions.co.uk

http://www.m-vis.co.uk


THE INVESTIGATION

+ Intelligent Mobility

his issue, I thought I’d change the format of the investigation somewhat to bring

you the highlights of a new report my colleagues John McCarthy and Rebecca Tommey have put together called From Transport to Mobility: Introducing Multi-Modal Transport in which they investigate the creation of a seamless multi modal response to user needs. You can read the 36-page paper at our website.

Intelligent Mobility will transform the transport sector and has an estimated global market of £900 billion by 2025 (Transport System Catapult study). Intelligent Mobility is focused on connecting people, places and goods across all modes of transport. Unlike standard approaches to date, it is not ‘vehicle’ or mode-focused, but

TFrom fully driverless to self-

parking, to traffic jam assist capability, connected and autonomous vehicles offer a range of services and business models that can improve how the network functions and how we live our lives.

Mobility as a Service is transforming the user’s journey by delivering transport as a service instead of a function to facilitate travel. Transport is currently a range of modes and systems all operating in silos. Mobility as a service is focused on breaking down those silos.

Journey Management plays a fundamental role in delivering Intelligent Mobility and provides the foundations for Mobility as a Service. Journey Management is about creating a seamless multi modal travel experience while also providing the network operators with a range of data generated by the

INVESTIGATION OVERSEEN BY LEE WOODCOCK

20

From Transport to Mobility

THE INVESTIGATION

looks at the system as a whole, and examines demand and utilisation from

a total journey perspective. Most importantly, it puts the user at the centre, providing a personalised travel experience.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are a hot topic across the globe. The UK is investing £100 million from 2016-2020 to ensure the country is at the forefront of this technology.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles will provide significant benefits to the UK from a reduction in congestion levels and accidents to increasing

accessibility. They also play a fundamental

role in delivering Mobility as a Service.


looks at the system as a whole, and examines demand and utilisation from

a total journey perspective. Most importantly, it puts the user at the centre, providing a personalised travel experience.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles are a hot topic across the globe. The UK is investing £100 million from 2016-2020 to ensure the country is at the forefront of this technology.

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles will provide significant benefits to the UK from a reduction in congestion levels and accidents to increasing

accessibility.

Mobility as a Service.



users enabling them to understand how the network is operating and requirements of their customers. Journey Management enables users to undertake any multi modal journey, include personalisation to their journey options and have trust in the information they are being provided.

The network is creaking, the challenges are growing, the demands of the customers are increasing. We cannot afford to stand still and throw money at old solutions.

WHO BENEFITS? We all should. If the network is dynamic, intelligent and personal then the service benefits the user and the network manager alike. The aim is to make technology work for all of us.

We must be brave and take the first step. Fear of failure should not be the death knell of innovation. We

must create experiments and proof of concepts that grow organically supported by a robust strategic framework.

Journey Management is about connecting people, services and information together in real time. Journey Management is more than just transport, it links to other services such as health and education and includes a seamless payment method which covers all modes. In short, Journey Management is about connecting the right information to the right person at the right time. A positive customer experience is key to developing and maintaining market growth. The travelling public look for ease and reliability of travel between A and B, and a cost efficient system in place to facilitate their choices. Intelligent Mobility looks to connect people, places and goods across all modes of transport, and as such, Journey

Management is fundamental in delivering this.

Journey Management looks to provide a behaviour led approach to technology deployment, rather than being technology led. Outcomes are driven by customers’ behaviours and requirements instead of by the technology developments. The market is changing and transport providers, authorities and cities will play a new role going forward, providing services that can be tailor-made to the individual.

Journey Management is characterised by: ● Customer Experience A real understanding of the needs, preferences and behaviours of people and businesses. ● Data to Information Effective exploitation of ubiquitous data (everyday data). ● Innovation Capitalising on advances in technology in areas such as the Internet of Things (a network of objects embedded with electronics so they can collect and exchange data), sensors and autonomous systems. ● Network Optimisation Transport networks operating freely and reliably at optimal capacity with seamless interchange between different modes. ● New Business Models A vibrant commercial market continually encouraging business innovation and applying experience from beyond the transport world. ● Mobile Interoperable Dynamic Ticketing A seamless ticketing system which is available anytime and anywhere.

So let’s look at these in a little more detail:

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 1. Customer needs - Understanding the customers requirements. 2. Information - Providing the right information at the right time. This enables the user to make an informed decision to reduce travel, reroute, retime, remode or continue their usual journey. 3. Timely - Regular updates before and during the journey. 4. Sharing - Two way sharing of information to improve the network and user experience.

21

From Transport to Mobility

ABOUT THE ATKINS INVESTIGATION

ATKINS IS A COMPANY which will always work for its clients to understand the issues involved and provides expertise, answers and ideas in ITS, and now more recently in Smart Cities and Intelligent Mobility. Delivering an appropriate and sustainable transportation network for the 21st century is an exciting challenge. Atkins is committed to planning, designing and enabling our clients’ transportation programmes.

Atkins has a proven track record of successfully planning, designing and enabling urban transport and environmental improvements across all scales of developments. Successful transport strategies examine the journeys that people need to make in all aspects of their lives and provide realistic travel options. The services provided to clients range from strategic policy advice and performance management, through all aspects of demand forecasting, behavioural analysis, to accessibility, transport for land development, streetscapes and traffi c engineering design.

Atkins supports the Atkins Investigation in Smart Highways because the investigation, like Atkins, gets to the heart of an issue in order to understand it, and then utilise the knowledge and understanding to help its clients translate and navigate diffi cult issues in order for them make the right decisions safe in the knowledge they have the facts.





capacity of the network so that a trusted steady state is

created. 2. Trust – Where customers and network operators trust the information they receive - this is about fostering positive relationships.

3. System – A system of systems approach is

needed, where the groups of capability and technology

are linked together and perform at a system level. 4. Dynamic – The network must be agile and responsive to meet the changing needs of the population. It must look to predict, manage and anticipate demand at a second by second rate. 5. Resilient – The system needs to operate as efficiently as possible to optimise capacity. 6. Multi-modal – Mobility is about all modes, and the operators must work together to achieve a seamless multi model system.

NEW BUSINESS MODEL FUNDAMENTALS 1. Opportunity – It is a disruptive time where thefuture is unknown. Time to consider how new market space is impacted and revenue created. 2. Services – Online, on demand, revenue generating services for direct consumption must be part of the mobility solution. 3. Engagement – The ability to reach out to the customer across a multitude of platforms to question, listen and

learn from their actions and provide for their needs. 4. Collaboration – The ecosystem is massive. No single company can provide a solution. Engagement, both culturally and business wise, is needed to encourage a collaborative system.

TICKETING FUNDAMENTALS 1. Access – A sustainable solution using technology that is understood and enjoyed by the travelling public. 2. Interoperable – One ticket for all transport networks. 3. Personal – Link your mobility options to incentives that are right for you. This can be selecting the fastest route, least changes, quietest route or even being rewarded for deciding not to travel at all. 4. Shared Economy – Exploit new routes to market for the payment of services linked to mobility choices across the whole supply chain.

The current problem with Transport is that none of the options is really integrated. This means that different users with differing requirements are battling against each other, the reduced road space, the limited parking options, the crowded buses, the emissions levels and the busy street furniture on a daily basis. We accept these as problems but little is being done in a coordinated and strategic way to address them.

We face a number of challenges today and unfortunately it isn’t getting any easier. Cities are growing, rural communities are battling to remain relevant, and transport, the backbone of the economy is shuddering under

22

DATA TO INFORMATION TO INTELLIGENCE 1. Single source of Truth – Bringing actionable data together and making sense of it all. 2. Trusted Information – The customer must BELIEVE what they are being told. 3. Reliable – 100% accuracy at all times. This is about BRAND recognition. 4. Resilient – When things go wrong on the network, the intelligence the customer gets is more important than ever. 5. Accessible – Any device, any location, any person - these are the basic requirements of use.

INNOVATION 1. Future Proof – Understand where legacy equipment fits and more importantly, where it does not. 2. Architecture – Define a modular approach to design, creating building blocks of capability that can be linked together. 3. Agile – Solutions must be capable of adapting to the new technologies and services that become available. 4. Interoperable – Standards and interface requirements must be clear and unambiguous. 5. Organisation – Sometimes it’s not just about the technology, as the organisation itself must be innovative.

NETWORK OPTIMISATION FUNDAMENTALS 1. Balance – Manage the push and pull of the various users against the

THE INVESTIGATIONTHE INVESTIGATION


The experts agree much of the technology for driverless cars is in place, it’s the social and legal aspects which need to be dealt with


JOHN MCCARTHY (LEAD AUTHOR)

Technical Director – Intelligent Mobility

[email protected]

REBECCA TOMMEY

Senior Consultant - Intelligent Mobility

[email protected]

the pressure being applied. Smart Ticketing has been

attempted by many individuals, yet users cannot use one ticket for all their journeys across the UK! What about Journey Planners – have they made a measurable impact in the reduction of congestion or stress for journeys?

Yes, they have made some improvements to users’ journeys. However significant improvements and benefits are yet to be seen.

Journey Planners do provide some very useful information, but in general they struggle with multi modal journeys, real time updates and payment methods. Numerous journey planners are often very difficult to navigate and require a lot of input from the user.

They often feel like the first dish of a three-course menu, except the other dishes - comfort, freedom, payment mechanisms and real time updates and choices are never served up. This results in an overall negative customer experience.

Similarly most existing systems / journey planners are not personalised to the user so only generate generic travel options.

For example a user might prefer to drive to a different station if their child is at school in the area/parking is cheaper or other reasons. Yet a traditional Journey planner will only provide generic options for the user which restricts the users’ journey options.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS? The solution is to deliver personalised journey options and make the system work for all of us. The system needs to understand the needs of the user and the network operator.

CAN WE EXPLOIT TECHNOLOGY?Yes, if we do it in the right way. We live in a digital age, information is now available at the touch of a button or a voice command.

Transport has begun to take advantage of this but that is causing more problems. There are so many different versions of the truth about your journey that users jump from one app to a website to another app to try and see what the right information might be.

CAN WE SOLVE THIS ISSUE? Yes, the solution is an integrated network system with data sharing which provides one source of truth that the user can trust. This is a very difficult outcome to achieve as there are numerous companies across the UK which all operate in silos e.g rail and bus operators. We need the system to work as one, enabling the user to undertake a seamless journey on one ticket, one payment system and one information platform. London’s Oyster and contact-less payment system enables one payment mechanism

for travel within London. This has transformed travel within

London however it lacks the ability to provide one

source of truth, as the validity of information about delays and incidents is different depending on which website/app you are

using. A single source of truth means bringing all

the data and information that currently exists and linking it all

together in a reliable, sensible and consistent way.

CREATING A GLIDE PATH TO MOBILITY To enable the transition to a mobility based provision of services, there are 5 key considerations:

The successful running of a vibrant transport network is made up of a number of complex and different parameters. In fact, the ecosystem, which combines customers, behaviours, technology and operations together in a seamless and optimised way is at the heart of what is being proposed.

No longer is it sufficient to deploy technology for technology’s sake. New

smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4 23t @SmartHighwaysM | www.smarthighways.net

“ The solution is to deliver personalised journey options and make the system work for all of us... ”





THE INVESTIGATIONTHE INVESTIGATION

approaches are vital in order to proactively engage and collaborate with the customer and their needs and engage with them in a meaningful fashion. The psychology for change and the behaviours that underpin this, both real time and predictive in nature, need to be explored in order to implement effective behaviour change. It is also important to recognise that the customers using the network have different requirements and that all customers of the Network need to be catered for, including vulnerable users.

It is key that once behaviours are understood and quality information provided to the customer, that an ongoing framework for sharing and exchange is established, further developing the relationship between information provider and user, as both parties benefit from knowledge transfer.

There must be an ecosystem, or multi- stakeholder engagement platform, that supports the successful deployment of mobility based solutions. For this to be achieved it cannot be done in isolation and the government must define at a national level what is required for a sustainable solution to take shape; one that links a number of companies with competing offers together. The UK can establish itself as market leader by developing a targeted operating model for engagement that protects and optimises the various market offerings. The government should assume the role of an enabler. This operating model must define the engagement across parties as well as the technical requirements, such as data flow and security, necessary for implementation.

Journey Management is a data rich world. With the growth in connected and autonomous vehicles as well as the increase of mobile based devices, huge

tickets and numerous platforms to purchase tickets. This often confuses the customer and makes a multi modal journey more difficult to complete.

LEE’S SUMMARYI hope you found this change of approach to the investigation useful, we will be reverting to the previous format in the next edition but I thought it important to further stimulate the debate on journeys, that are user focused and seamless across all modes. We are seeing early shifts in some quarters towards Mobility as a Service and there is certainly a lot spoken about but we are yet to see large scale solutions come to market, I am keen to understand what the burning platform for journey management and vision Mobility as a Service to be realised. John and Rebecca set out six characteristics for journey management:● Customer Experience● Data to Information● Innovation● Network Optimisation● New Business Models● Mobile Interoperable Dynamic Ticketing

I would welcome your thoughts on these characteristics, are they the right ones, what is missing, what can we learn globally from each other? Please continue the debate at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8382671

LEE WOODCOCK is the Global Product Director for

Intelligent Mobility at Atkins

Email [email protected]


With the increase of mobile based devices, huge volumes of data will be created in order to drive new market offerings

volumes of data will be created in order to drive new market

offerings. Highways England, Department for Transport and cities have access to a huge amount of existing data. However, to capitalise on this, it

must be made clear what the roles of the

institutions are going to be and how the organisation, the

technology, and the data can be linked together in the most innovative

and robust way possible. The UK can be a world leader in establishing a market focused independent data exchange role that allows for data from all providers to be handled in an anonymous way that drives value creation as well as network optimisation.

Until a decade ago, the majority of the world’s data was produced by scientific, industrial, and administrative sources. Today, most data is generated

from the daily activities of millions of people around the world, through simple actions such as messaging friends on social media or shopping online.

From both a network operator and customer experience perspective, the next evolutionary step in the provision of data is converting it into something that is available at the right time, readily useable and digestible.

With this explosion in data, how can we work to make sure that information and choices are at the heart of travel solutions? With the different numbers of providers working in this space, it is essential that there is ‘one source of truth’, and that this is trusted, acted upon and engaged with across the

customer’s journey. As companies transform to digital, there is a massive

increase in data. No one knows the commercial value of the data and there is currently no tool to help link the data available in- house to the market

requirements short and long term.

Similar to data and apps, there are multiple types of

“ From both a network operator and customer experience perspective, the next evolutionary step in the provision of data is converting it into something that is available at the right time, readily useable and digestible... ”

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8382671



https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8382671

THE VIEW

+ Socially speaking

ommunication is as much about listening as it is talking and Social is no exception. Let me remind you of the amount of content being created and published every minute on the social web:

600,000 logins on Facebook67,000 photos uploaded to Instagram433,000 tweets posted

And that’s just a large tip of an enormous iceberg.In 2015 the Content Marketing Institute reported that B2B

marketers were publishing 70 per cent more content than in the previous year and this is a trend that is only going in one direction. US Marketing expert Mark Schaefer calls this phenomenon “Content Shock” and it can be overwhelming when you’re trying to be a part of the Social conversation.

This is why I say that:

SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO STOP TALKING AND START LISTENINGSocial listening can be hugely beneficial when you take a step back and focus on making sense of the content that is relevant to you rather than constantly creating more content to throw into the pot. It is about searching the web and the social space to see what’s being said about your organisation, your competitors and suppliers and other topics relevant and important to you.

GENERATE INFORMATION QUICKERFrom a transport information supply perspective Social listening enables you to monitor keywords associated with your business to find users who are reporting problems before the usual methods. When I sat in a radio studio, the advent of text messaging made information gathering much faster and the Social web added another dimension. Very often I would be calling our travel news provider to give them new information because my listeners had reported much quicker than the traditional systems. This is not to say Social should replace the current infrastructure. That would be plainly ridiculous but it is a very important additional information gathering tool.

An efficient Social Media business dashboard like the ones identified below can be loaded with specific keyword searches than can be saved and tracked minute by minute to monitor what the road user is experiencing at that time.

A traffic control room really should utilise Hootsuite’s

excellent geo-search function to track not only on keywords but on location. If you are just looking within a 50 mile radius of your base for example you can use these parameters so there is no wastage in your results.

FIND WHERE YOUR COMMUNITY SPENDS THEIR SOCIAL TIMESocial listening enables you to find out where your potential and current customers and influencers are on the Social web. The number of businesses I talk to who don’t have the first idea where to find these people is very high indeed. Follow the conversation and join in when relevant and necessary. It is also worth highlighting the need for being personal and genuine in the interactions and not see them as purely business pitches.

IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICEThis is one area in which Social listening is essential, enabling you to identify feedback of all descriptions. You can monitor your brand in a variety of different ways to get a complete picture of where you stand.

For example, you can monitor Twitter with and without the @ symbol, also track mis-spelling of your organisation’s name. This gives you the opportunity to show appreciation for positive comments or to find and respond to disappointed customers, turning potentially negative experiences into positive ones.

There are number of tools available to help you to carry out your Social listening.

HOOTSUITE As a UK Ambassador for Hootsuite I can recommend their business dashboard highly. HOWSOCIABLE HowSociable is a handy tool for measuring yours and your competitors’ social media presence. It breaks down scores for different social media platforms, allowing you to see which social media platforms work best for you and which ones need further development.SIMPLY MEASURED Simply Measured makes it easy to analyse your paid, owned and earned activity. They provide insights such as Facebook content, competitor and fan page analysis, key customer service metrics measurement on Twitter, Instagram engagement, content and trends analysis and many others.GOOGLE ALERTS A little forgotten these days in my opinion and underused. You can monitor the web for interesting new content, mentions of your brand or even yourself, your competitors, industry leaders and so on. As they’re extremely easy to set up, this is probably a good place to start for beginners.

C

Our Social Media Pioneer returns to the subject of social listening, and how it can help control rooms react to incidents quicker

Chris Moore


Chris Moore is the founder of Social Media Solutions

www.chrismooremedia.co.uk

“ It has never been easier for businesses and organisations

to build an exciting, vibrant image for themselves in the

digital world ”


http://www.chrismooremedia.co.uk


See where ZeEUS will take you

ELECTROMOBILITY

+ Electric buses

mission-free public transport in urban centres will deliver environmental, social and economic

benefits. The challenge to date with achieving this has been the inability of Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) technology (such as batteries and charging systems), to fully meet the demanding requirements of highly utilised public transport vehicles (such as buses) in large cities, in an economically viable manner. By demonstrating how a combination of innovative communication, electric vehicle and EV charging technologies can be combined to deliver a virtually zero-emission, low running cost bus service, project ZeEUS will demonstrate that all three benefits can be achieved with today’s technology, even in the most demanding public transportation environments.

Zero Emission Urban bus System (ZeEUS) project is a 42-month innovative demonstration project dedicated to demonstrating the viability of electric buses in Europe.

routes. Transport for London (TfL) is leading the London demonstrator as part of ZeEUS and TRL is leading the evaluation activities in the UK.

BENEFITSThree wirelessly-charged electric buses, operating mostly in a zero-emission mode, will lead to significant environmental benefits through reduced CO2 emissions. Zero-tailpipe emissions and silent operation also results in better air quality and reduced noise levels in highly populated urban areas, providing social benefits. Using mostly electricity, the vehicles are considerably cheaper to operate than diesel buses and therefore, provide economic benefits while reduced air pollution results in lower health-related costs.

By showing that buses can be fuel efficient, very low emission, quiet and state of the art in terms of their technology, the project is


TRL’s Head of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles and Energy Denis Naberezhnykh explains how high passenger capacity

electric vehicles are closer than we think

The project is being co-ordinated by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and is co-funded by the DG Mobility and Transport of the European Commission with a budget of €22.5m, €13.5m of it from EU funding. The project aims to facilitate the widespread introduction of electrified bus systems in Europe by demonstrating a number of different technological solutions for electric buses. These will operate as part of regular bus services in eight European cities, including London. Subsequent analysis of the results will lead to the development of guidelines and tools to assist with the implementation of such systems. Leading manufacturers in bus electrification are participating and will be providing plug-in hybrids or full electric buses. These will use different charging infrastructure and strategies for ensuring the buses are able to cope with the demands of the operational

The ZeEUS buses are intended to provide economic and environmental benefi ts over their diesel counterparts

All photos: Tfl

E

WORDS BY DENIS NABEREZHNYKH

“ Preliminary results are showing that vehicles are covering over 6,500 miles per month with very high level of availability ”



smaller batteries on electric double-decker buses than those used with conventionally-charged electric double-decker buses, approximately five times smaller. The Virtual Electric concept allows the bus to operate in mostly electric mode while on route using GPS geo-fencing technology, ensuring air pollution is minimised where it matters most. Yet the vehicle retains the flexibility to operate in Hybrid mode if required.

EVALUATIONBeing a demonstrator project, a sophisticated monitoring and evaluation of the bus performance and benefits is implemented

during the project. Undertaken by TRL, this will allow the development of a very detailed understanding of vehicle performance while in everyday operation, as

well quantification of the benefits. This will help to further refine the technology and operation of these vehicles in a way that maximises benefits even further.

The project is approximately 10 months into the trial. For the first 8 months, the buses have operated

with only one WPT charger and no overnight charging while rest of the charging infrastructure is being commissioned. In July, the buses have already demonstrated an ability to complete over 40 per cent of all distance driven using electricity and this is expected to increase significantly once all infrastructure is operational. The target is to achieve 80 per cent of all distance in zero-emission mode, using electricity.

The ability to charge wirelessly at high power has enabled the buses to top up battery charge at every end-of route stop, making the most of the very short layover period of fewer than 10 minutes.

AVAILABILITYPreliminary results are showing that vehicles are covering over 6,500 miles per month with very high level of availability. This is expected to increase further as all charging infrastructure is brought online and more drivers are trained to drive these buses. Final result from the demonstration will be made available in quarter one of 2017 and will provide a full analysis of the bus and wireless charger performance as well as feedback from drivers, bus operator and users. The ZeEUS London demonstration project is being delivered by TfL with partners TRL, Tower Transit, ADL and IPT Technology.

demonstrating a bus system that is more likely to thrive in future transport environment. These types of new buses provide a better customer experience and help to address air quality and environmental issues in cities, potentially encouraging mode shift from personal vehicles. Wireless charging technology allows the buses to charge more frequently and at higher power, enabling them to complete longer journeys and operate more demanding routes.

INNOVATIVEThe project includes a number of innovative elements related to the technology and also the operation of these new buses. Wireless charging technology allows, rapid and frequent recharging of the buses in public environments with minimum driver intervention or change to bus schedules. These vehicles are the first range extended electric double-decker buses in the world to be used on commercial routes, overcoming challenges around electrification of such large buses. Opportunistic charging using wireless chargers also allows to use significantly

DENIS NABEREZHNYKH is Head of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles and Energy, TRL [email protected]

TRL.co.uk

Above left: the WPT charger and driver cabin view

Above: operational / non-operational distance by EV and Hybrid mode – data from July 2016

PROJECT KEY FACTS

n Three ADL range extended-electric 61kWh batteriesn Two 100kW end-of-route WPT charging stations by IPT Technologyn Overnight plug-in charging (50kW DC)n Operating on Route 69n Use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)- enabled Geo-fencing technology

“ Project ZeEUS will demonstrate that all three benefits can be achieved with today’s

technology ”



http://TRL.co.uk

What does a good transport energy system look like?

ELECTROMOBILITY

+ Integration

here are now more than 75,000 plug-in vehicle grant eligible vehicles in the UK, with

28,000 of those having been sold this year1. The pace of PiV adoption is accelerating. At the same time, other novel technologies such as Hydrogen fuel cells are also maturing and will likely start to enter the UK vehicle mix in the future. Transition to these new vehicle technologies has profound implications on what energy is used for transportation, what infrastructure is required to support such vehicles and what policy is required to ensure this transition takes place smoothly, continuing

determining what a good transport-energy system looks like, ie one that combines energy, transport and consumers. A key part of the system will be ensuring effective integration of all the critical components into an effective system optimised for a transition to a decarbonised vehicle fleet and low carbon energy system in the UK. This knowledge can then be used to inform transport and energy policy, as well as to assist technology developers and the private sector with developing better products and services for their consumers.

The project aims are to identify the challenges and opportunities involved in transitioning to a secure


WORDS BY DENIS NABEREZHNYKH

to support both the UK economy and user needs. It is important that we gain a comprehensive understanding of what a good future transport-energy system looks like. Addressing this challenge is the purpose of the Consumers, Vehicles and Energy Integration (CVEI) project.

CVEI is an Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) project being delivered by TRL with a number of partner organisations, including Barringa, Element Energy, Cenex, EDF Energy, Shell, Route Monkey, EV Connect and The Behavioural Insights Team.

INTEGRATIONThe drive behind the project is

T

The future of road transport is looking increasingly diverse with a variety of vehicle powertrain technologies becoming a viable alternative to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Plug-in vehicles (PiVs) are growing in popularity, comprising various Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) and different confi gurations of Plug-in-Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs).

The pace of plug-in vehicle adoption is accelerating

“ The drive behind the project is determining what a good transport-energy system looks like, ie one that combines energy, transport and consumers ”

FOOTNOTE 1 SMMT September 2016 EV registrations

www.smmt.co.uk/2016/10/september-2016-ev-registrations/

http://www.smmt.co.uk/2016/10/september-2016-ev-registrations/



propositions; integrated vehicle and infrastructure systems; and technologies best suited to enabling a cost-effective UK energy system for low-carbon vehicles. This will require undertaking a set of trials with mainstream users driving plug-in vehicles (both battery and hybrid) to test and validate a proposed holistic system design. The process will also involve addressing knowledge gaps and informing refinements of the developed modelling framework.

ANALYSISThe project is being delivered in

two stages. Stage 1 has recently completed and resulted in the development of a modelling framework that enables the analysis of holistic system configurations. This is the first time such a robust and comprehensive approach has been taken to fully assess the impacts and implications of integration (of Plug-in and Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles; energy supply and generation; policy frameworks; market structures; and required infrastructure).

This modelling framework has been used to undertake a provisional analysis of different narratives based on two independent axes of variability:l Axis 1 - Private car ownership vs Vehicle as a shared assetl Axis 2 - Organic action vs Coordinated action.

Axis 1 is based on the fact that transport demand can continue to be met in the traditional way – predominantly through private vehicle ownership or alternatively; vehicles can become an increasingly shared asset, resulting in transport demand being met by a variety of car clubs and car sharing arrangements.

Axis 2 represents the variability that can arise depending on whether the change is either: largely organically driven by manufacturers, consumers and the industry more broadly; or whether it is a coordinated transition being led by the government through implementation of fiscal and non-fiscal policy measures to help achieve a certain desired outcome.

SCENARIOSUsing this approach, a number of discrete, representative scenarios have been identified that allow

and sustainable low-carbon vehicle fleet and to examine how tighter integration of vehicles with the energy supply system can benefit all stakeholders involved with low-carbon vehicles and the energy supply chain.

The project is therefore intended to help inform UK government and European policy and also to help shape energy and automotive industry products.

The project will achieve these aims by characterising the market and policy frameworks; business

¢

“ As mass-market transition to alternative fuel vehicles is a new phenomenon… there are some significant gaps in knowledge and understanding of how people will react to such vehicles and infrastructure ”

Left: CVEI core diagram

Above: the modelling framework


ELECTROMOBILITY

+ Integration

investigation of various impacts and implications of changing assumptions along these axes – representing different versions of the future system. A number of such scenarios can be seen above.

In order to reach a set of reliable and robust conclusions from such modelling, it is important that accurate and up-to date data and knowledge is included. However, as mass-market transition to alternative fuel vehicles is a new phenomenon (the last similar transition having occurred over 100 years ago when people began to switch to cars from using horse and carriages); there are some significant gaps in knowledge and understanding of how people will react to such vehicles and infrastructure, and the market structures necessary for closer integration of the two.

To address these gaps, Stage 2 of the project will undertake a number of state-of-the art trials with mainstream consumers,

It will involve 240 mainstream consumers (half with BEV, half with PHEV) who will experience User-Managed & Supplier-Managed domestic EV charging services (plus a control group), replicating a market set-up where charging at home may be closely integrated with energy and power supply; resulting in either tariff variability or intelligent managing of the EV charging process. Data will be gathered using vehicle telematics and charging infrastructure, questionnaires and a choice experiment and then analysed by experts from TRL. Findings will inform analysis of the effectiveness of charging solutions and vehicle-energy integration, and of system level impacts.

A Fleet Study will also be undertaken. The study will take the form of case studies with selected fleets (due to an even lower current level of knowledge and data availability regarding mainstream fleet uptake of PiVs and managed charging services); to better understand their decision making process. The project will assess informed response to modelled fleet-wide roll-out of PiVs through a series of case studies.

Once the trials are complete, the data has been analysed and all of the learning is captured; the project modelling frameworks will be updated, assumptions tested and uncertainties clarified. Conclusions regarding uptake and integration of vehicles into the holistic system will be derived – characterising what makes a “good system”.

Project outputs will promote an integrated approach to addressing challenges of moving towards a secure and sustainable low carbon energy and transport system.


to generate the necessary knowledge and data and to test the assumptions made in the model.

Stage 2 is due to start before the end of the year, with final preparations currently taking place. It will run over approximately 18 months. During this time, two trials will

be undertaken and then the results fed back into the modelling framework that will be used to reassess the recommendations being put forward by the project.

TRIALSConsumer Uptake Trial will aim to enhance understanding of PiV adoption by mainstream consumers. It will involve 200 mainstream consumers being given direct experience with BEV & PHEV vehicles (with a control group using ICE vehicles). Data will be gathered via vehicle telematics, questionnaires and a choice experiment (capitalising on reduction in ‘psychological distance’) and then analysed by experts from TRL. Findings will then inform analysis on uptake by mainstream consumers under different market and policy frameworks.

Consumer Charging Trial will aim to assess the response from mainstream consumers to market frameworks and policy incentives for EV charging demand management at home.

DENIS NABEREZHNYKH is Head of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles and Energy, TRL dnaberezhnykh@trl.

co.uk

TRL.co.uk

“ The process will also involve addressing knowledge gaps and informing refi nements of the developed modelling framework ”

Top: future system scenarios

Above: The trials structure


http://TRL.co.uk



THE VIEW

+ From the engineer...

ver the course of the last couple of decades I have had quite a few opportunities to access and review the operations of a diverse range of

control rooms. These have supported urban security, highway management and urban traffic control both in the UK and further afield. These weren’t just flying visits. In one case the role was to capture the operational functions and procedures, preparatory to an out-sourcing action, in another it was the integration of a totally new service over the top of a long series of existing functions. As a result of these involvements I got a fair insight into control room services and the systems used in their operation.

In each case the effectiveness of the control room was largely dependent on the interaction of the staff with the tools provided to them. Obvious? Perhaps, but seeing a control room working well (and the majority do just that) it becomes clear that the staff both know their systems and their purpose. While this is always good to see it is not where the challenges arise.

In our industry, as in many (as a recent TV documentary on Sellafield showed), we are dependent on many layers of technology, often reaching back over decades. It could be for example, that there are two remote monitoring systems and a car park management system feeding a fault management system. A CCTV system with ANPR, doubling as a parking enforcement officer back-up. A UTMC common database scraping data from a set of legacy silos, and the possibilities go on. As newer systems are brought into play they often displace some features or services of their predecessors and the remaining functions that are still needed often become more obscure. Furthermore, and unfortunately, for a range of often human reasons the older the technology the more likely it is that the supporting documentation, spares, manuals, on-going training, informed maintenance and many of the other supporting services that enable the function are missing or out of date.

Eventually a point is reached where no-one is quite sure what some of the systems do, but because they don’t know the risk associated with decommissioning and removing old systems these remain in place, occupying dated platforms running in

tangled server rooms with un-labelled cables linking to abstract cabinets at potentially forgotten roadside

locations.And, given the choice between installing

a new service or site or reviewing the legacy of sediment/systems most system owners will choose the former, but at what risk? Well actually one of the worst types of risk,

an unquantifiable one, if the purpose of the equipment, the support, the status, interactions,

etc are all at best unclear, then taking the view that nothing bad has yet happened so everything is OK, might been seen as naive. If the risk is unknown then the mitigation is also not known.

Why am I focusing on control rooms? Sure this idea of redundancy and obsolescence affects us more widely? And yes, it does. There are plenty of controller cabinets out there that have the remains of old cabling, disconnected detector packs, even the occasional tele12. But, an experienced field engineer can assimilate the whole picture, they can see the active items and discount

the redundant material. As the complexity grows and the system components are not all in one place it is harder to get a comprehensive overview and a full understanding.

Everything I have said this far is the easy part. Identifying a problem is rarely a challenge. Finding a way back from an untenable position in a careful manner requires care and planning and effort. To review the systems known to have been deployed and the reasons for them, to assimilate all the existing information and identify the gaps and then to determine likely interactions between systems in the way that a fault management system needs data from a remote monitoring system, or a lane control system needs congestion and incident data, these are steps that to some degree should be taken. Only then can these systems be reviewed for their current relevance.

And I haven’t even mentioned system security and hacking…So, if you have a role to play in a control room and it is more

than five years old then you might want to give serious thought to, as a minimum, running an inventory of: the services that you provide, the tools that you use, the expertise of the staff, the availability of training, support, and user documents.

But more reassuringly, we should be grateful that we are not responsible for a vast pile of nuclear waste. I really do not envy those good people at Sellafield.

OOur signals expert looks at legacy systems within control rooms

Mark Pleydell


“ Eventually a point is reached where no-one

is quite sure what some of the systems do, but

because they don’t know the risk associated with

decommissioning and removing old systems

these remain in place... ”

Mark Pleydell is owner of Pleydell Technology Consulting Ltd, drawing on 18 years of practice in the traffi c industry. [email protected]




THE VIEW

+ Business case

y 16-year-old son has an iPhone something. If he goes out for more than

a few hours, he takes the phone and a chocolate-bar size extra power pack, and a mains charger and also an Apple lead. Because being without access to youtwitfacegram for a few minutes is just too high a risk. Maybe that’s why so many people of a certain age like me still have the Nokia 3210 that lasted several weeks and just did text and phone calls (and a mean game of snake). They are great for a week away – no hunting for power sockets on the beach or at Glastonbury.

Pure electric cars are the same. Except there is no add on battery (and why someone hasn’t invented this as a little trailer to tow I don’t know) or ageing Nokia equivalent. So people charge their electric vehicle at every opportunity - some data I have seen from a UK city says that only 13% of charging at public posts are actually necessary. So why do people leave their electric vehicles charging? Well typically it’s because they are parking the car also – they are not going to move the vehicle just as it has a full battery to a different parking spot are they?

This for me is the big challenge – electric vehicles even with rapid chargers require a bit of planning by the driver and some tech support to find a charging point that will still be free when you arrive. Parking your EV at work or in the station car park for a commute takes up the charger for the day. Parking and charging are the same for most EVs. So pure electric vehicles for more than a few short journeys are an inefficient system, because more chargers are needed than actually required by the number of vehicles because of parking.

As an aside, I met someone travelling from London to Le Mans for the 24 hour race in a Tesla. He had planned his stops around rapid chargers on French Autoroutes, needing a few hours of burger frites and tarte normande each time. I didn’t actually see him there, but if he did arrive, some of the EV power points at the circuit had been cunningly converted

to power the fans’ beer fridges. Well there are both 24 beers in a case and 24 hours in the race, so it seems only fitting.

Hybrids – especially plug in ones that could use my solar panels on the roof for free motoring - are a little different. You have the equivalent of an engine on a sailboat to get you home. The drive from Formula One and Le Mans cars for new hybrid systems to recover energy means engines are now more and more efficient at turning fuel into kinetic energy. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes engine (actually built in Northamptonshire) turns 47 per cent of its fuel energy into moving the wheels. Audi’s turbo diesel hybrid used at Le Mans uses 33 per cent less fuel per lap than it did in just 2011, and is part of far more interesting racing at a place where

the beer is colder than 2011 for some reason.The only internal combustion engines more efficient than

these are massive two stroke diesels in supertankers ( just google “supertanker diesel” to see what a 100,000 horsepower engine looks like). Just for comparison, fossil fuel power stations turn 40 per cent of the energy in their fuel into energy, before any transmission losses.

So what’s the solution? There is no silver bullet here, but a mix of longer range from better batteries, more – and even more rapid, rapid chargers, more confident customers not topping up at every opportunity (as they know they can charge when the battery is a bit flatter), parking time restrictions on EV bays, better promotion of hybrid deals, and Formula 1 and more importantly Le Mans cars making diesel and petrol hybrids ever more efficient.

We do need to learn from how current 16-year-olds use mobile phones, to learn how they will adapt to vehicles in at little as a year’s time when they get a licence. How they charge their phones will tell us a lot about how they will charge their cars.

So I am off to my technology development centre (shed) to build a towable extra battery pack for current teenagers as they start to use EVs. Watch the shelves in Halfords everyone!

M

Our ITS expert says that when it comes to electromobility,we need to learn a lesson from mobile phones

Andy Graham


Andy Graham is founder of White Willow Consultants

[email protected]

“ Some of the EV power points at the circuit had been cunningly

converted to power the fans’ beer fridges… ”




ITS_ThermiCam_A5.indd 1 14/08/15 12:08

Smart Video & Sensing Ltd 8 Dragoon House, Hussar Court, West Side View, Waterlooville PO7 7SFTel 02392 248250 ❚ Web www.smartcctvltd.com ❚ Email [email protected]

Integrated detection & sensing solutions

❚ Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Railways & Waterways

❚ Acoustic, Radar, WiFi & Bluetooth technology

❚ Video Incident Detection

❚ Security & Access Control

❚ End-to-end system integration

❚ Traffic, pedestrian & cycle surveys

❚ Maintenance & Training

http://www.smartcctvltd.com


http://www.flir.com/traffic

Keeping SE England moving

CONTROL ROOMS

+ Case study

n helping to deliver the improvements to traffic manageament, Highways England procured

Mott MacDonald’s Osprey technology, which is an Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) compliant system. Osprey is deployed in a cloud-based environment and enables the authority to have greater visibility of traffic conditions on their road network. As it is a UTMC compliant

incident by diverting traffic to a local authority road.

However, this would only shift the problem elsewhere, and in the worst-case scenario, exacerbate existing congestion issues faced by the local authority. Likewise, local authorities’ traffic management tactics might aggravate already busy motorways. The CTM programme explores ways to improve the infrastructure, systems and processes in south eastern England, providing a platform that enables collaboration between different

I


WORDS BY CLAIRE AIRTH AND PAUL CANNING

“ Local authorities have now been given power to make decisions by drawing on their knowledge and experience of the road network, to best serve the road users ”

The South East of England is the most congested area of the country, encapsulating London and the M25, as well as critical road links to ferry ports at Dover and Portsmouth, not to mention the Dartford crossing. Many of these roads suffer from severe congestion on a daily basis. As such, Highways England has targeted this region as the ideal candidate for investigating how to improve their approach to traffi c management through the use of the collaborative traffi c management (CTM) programme. Mott MacDonald’s Claire Airth and Paul Canning from Highways England explain what’s been done

system, it also allows Highways England to efficiently exchange their information with neighbouring local authorities who have deployed similar systems.

OPPORTUNITYPrior to implementing the CTM programme, traffic management approaches in the southeast had no visibility over the impact of their actions on neighbouring roads. Operators at Highways England’s Regional Control Centre (RCC) could only address congestion resulting from a traffic

Highways England needs a joined-up approach with local roads to best manage high demand



on testing, as well as the amount of connections that the UTC has to establish.

By integrating open data from Transport for London (TfL) – another major stakeholder in the region’s traffic management –the southeast UTMC system further enhances the operational picture for Highways England’s RCC operators. The use of such two-way data exchanges is key to encouraging collaborative traffic management in the area well in to the future.

STRATEGY MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATIONA fundamental area of functionality provided in the Osprey UTMC system is the strategy manager. The Osprey strategy manager is furnished with a suite of tools which allow operators in control centres to define strategies that monitor the road network as well as implement actions that respond to adverse traffic conditions and improve traffic flow. It monitors the traffic conditions and activates, deactivates and coordinates predefined strategies as required, firing strategy rules and starting or stopping interventions when required.

Strategy interventions include both operator alerts – by indicating to

the operator that particular network conditions have occurred and some action should be considered – and the issuing plans and commands which connect to native systems such as the UTC, allowing the strategy manager to directly invoke actions on these systems as part of a co-ordinated intervention.

Interventions can include multiple combinations to provide a comprehensive response. When the intervention action is complete, usually signified by the strategy condition being cleared, a series of stop interventions are taken to return the road network to the desired state.

Cross boundary control is achieved through a combination of the Osprey strategy manager and operational procedures which coordinate UTC plans on the strategic road network (SRN) and local authorities’ roads, thereby providing a powerful tool for cross-boundary collaborative traffic management. A vital part of strategy management is achieving an agreement between Highways England and the neighbouring authority regarding the circumstances and which interventions should take place and the appropriate responses to those traffic conditions which benefit all stakeholders.

OUTCOMETo support the delivery of one of its key strategic outcomes, Highways England is investing in the development of a collaborative traffic management ethos and software systems have been delivered and more will follow. By utilising the UTMC specification and allowing efficient common exchange of information between its operating centres in the south east and those of its neighbouring authorities, it will deliver a consistent consolidated view of traffic conditions. These integrated systems will be the enabler to collaborative traffic management. Facilitating the exchange of traffic information, and automating responses to pre-defined traffic conditions that influence multiple native systems, will provide the road user with a better experience when making journeys, particularly around their transition to and from the SRN.

authorities in the area. This is where Osprey comes in.

SOLUTIONThe southeast UTMC Osprey system provides a core set of components to retrieve and manage standard UTMC data objects within the platform. Additional software components, called adapters are used for both data retrieval and publication, and facilitate interfaces that incorporate neighbouring local authority systems.

The diagram illustrates the architecture of the southeast UTMC system, highlighting the data feeds supplying the Osprey UTMC system. Each adaptor interprets the traffic information and inserts this information in the Osprey database via the application interface. This information is presented in real-time on the user interface (Osprey Web Client), rendering current traffic conditions on a geographical map.

UTC CONNECTIVITYA CORBA push mechanism establishes the ability to influence the urban traffic control (UTC) software via the native interface, retrieving commands from the UTMC database and notifying the UTC accordingly. This information is then used to influence individual traffic signals at the roadside.

The ability to influence not only Highways England’s UTC, but also those of neighbouring authorities is a key aspect of functionality which enables a joined up approach between authorities, as the diagram illustrates.

The mechanism by which the southeast UTMC system communicates with the local authority’s UTC takes advantage of the existing CORBA connection with the local authority’s UTMC. This enables the pre-existing functionality within the local authority system to push UTC commands in the same manner described by the UTMC specification. Rather than allowing a local authority’s UTC to establish a new CORBA connection to the south east’s UTMC system, the preceding approach has already been successfully commissioned and is working, thereby reducing the further time and effort that would be used

CLAIRE AIRTH is IT Project Manager at Mott MacDonald claire.airth@mottmac.

com

PAUL CANNING is Project Manager and Business Analyst, Highways England Paul.canning@

highwaysengland.co.uk

Top: Osprey web client strategy

Above: SE UTMC architecture






A tale of two cities

CONTROL ROOMS

+ Interview

Q So a year into your job in Saudi Arabia, how has it compared to

London?To be honest, there is little comparison on a number of levels. To be clear, that’s not criticism and the differences need context. Riyadh is much closer to the start of a journey that London has been on for a number of years, in terms of infrastructure, highway authorities and overall traffic management, especially roles and responsibilities. Add to that the fact that I went from


A year ago Esmon George MBE surprised his friends and colleagues by announcing he was leaving his role running Transport for London’s Streets Control Room to take on a

similar role in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Paul Hutton had a chat with him to fi nd out what, if anything, really can be described

as “similar” between the two roles and whether we can learn anything from his Middle Eastern experience.

Above: the fi rst thing that strikes you about Riyadh is the amount of construction going on

Right: Es George at work



A tale of two cities

It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is or what the task is, something is occurring on-screen, with a system or with someone; there is always information visible, regardless of the media used to display it. I also think that the nature of control rooms, whether they are 24/7 or operate outside of normal hours, lead to having or needing the type of individual who is able to switch on and react regardless of what the body clock says.

Q And what differences are there?Well, that all depends on the

task, but also the level of investment and age of the facility. It really is difficult to answer with specifics.

Q Here in Britain we can see Saudi Arabia as a “money is no

object” kind of place. Is that right, and if so does that mean you have the latest technology?I’m not sure I agree with that perception to be honest. What’s been very clear in my first year is the need to demonstrate value for money and be able to deliver on time and on target. So, whilst it may be at this stage of development that a lot is being spent on high-value capital projects (like the Metro), spend has to be justified. As far as technology is

concerned, from the perspective of ITS, we are using some advanced systems. Control-room wise however, we will have opportunities to look at what’s available on the market

within budget and aim to be as advanced as we can.

Q What Intelligent Transport Systems solution has been

most useful to you in the role and what would you like?We have an excellent traffic control system, TransSuite, which is our traffic management tool and allows us to manage traffic effectively. We will be introducing adaptive traffic control modules to it, which would be top of my wish list. I wouldn’t say no to incident detection either!

Q Can your old colleagues in London and the rest of the UK

learn anything from your experiences in Saudi?I think there’s always something to learn from other environments. Aside from the experience of being in a different culture and having to adapt techniques due to the environment, being in a position where you are developing a capability almost from the ground up is challenging, but very much a rewarding learning exercise.

a very well established body in London to a private company working for a government client there were also a number of deltas on that front. In many respects it’s been a learning experience all round.

Obviously, there are way of life and cultural differences which add to both the interest and challenge. The one commonality is that when I started work in London it was a time of change. It’s the same here. The first thing that strikes you about Riyadh is the amount of construction going on; lots of new buildings. Of most relevance is the work going on to build an entirely new Metro system, much of which is above ground, which of course means diversions and road closures throughout the city. So, if you imagine doing this in London, today…. Road layouts also differ; main roads are wider than in London, there is little opportunity to left or right turn apart from at intersections (so there’s lots of u-turning) and main roads have ‘branch’ roads which leads to a lot of crossing movements, which coupled with how people drive here makes the journey to and from work, er, interesting.

Q One of your major achievements in traffi c

management and control was relocating the TfL control room from Victoria to the Palestra. How has that experience helped with your new role?One of the key things I learned about the relocation was the need to open my mind to doing things differently, interface with partners in a different way but not lose sight of what has worked well. I’ve applied the same principles here as we set up the operation, started to interface with other agencies and applied some sound ideas and process to what was a fairly blank canvas. There’s still a lot to do, especially as the first year has been spent sharing a control room space with another organisation. This means though that at some point there will be another relocation exercise for me the get my teeth into.

Q What are the similarities between control rooms the

world over?There’s always something going on.

“ The nature of control rooms, whether they are 24/7 or operate outside of normal hours, lead to having or needing the type of individual who is able to switch on and react regardless of what the body clock says ”

ES GEORGE runs the control room in Riyadh Esmon.George@

Transcore.com

www.transcore.com

Twitter @esgeorge14

Top: Es George’s experiences in London were brought to the Riyadh control room

It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is or what the task is, something is occurring on-screen, with a system or with someone; there is always information visible, regardless of the media used to display it. I also think that the nature of control rooms, whether they are 24/7

concerned, from the perspective of ITS, we are using some advanced systems. Control-room wise however, we will have opportunities to look at what’s available on the market

within budget and aim to be as advanced as we can.

http://www.transcore.com




CONTROL ROOMS

+ Case study

ighways England’s Regional Control Centre (RCC) at South Mimms is one of seven the

organisation has across the country. It is responsible for managing Eastern England’s roads, from the M40 to the west to the A47 in the east, and including the northern section of the M25, the M1 and A1(M), among others.

The control room has 20 operator positions and a huge video wall, allowing operators to view any of 870 cameras overseeing the network, as

well as data feeds from other regions and temporary installations.

The Eastern Regional Control Centre operates 24/7 and had a video wall which was installed when it opened in 2005. The rear projection displays used mercury lamps and, although seen as “cutting edge” at the time, were outdated and particularly electricity-hungry. The lamps also had a life

of between 6,000 and 10,000 hours, meaning they needed replacing each year, and they also require the use of a rotating colour wheel, which also requires regular maintenance and replacement

As part of the expansion of the centre, it was necessary to upgrade the video wall and reduce its running costs and a modern rear-projection LED illumination display was chosen because

H


Above and opposite: South Mimms is one of seven regional control centres operated by Highways England

WORDS BY PETER VAN DIJK

“ A modern rear-projection LED illumination display was chosen because of its lower power consumption, improved lifespan and lack of need for colour wheels ”

Power savingWhen you walk into any traffi c control room anywhere in the world, the most striking feature is always the wall of screens displaying a range of cameras and other information. But this display wall can be expensive to maintain and run. Work done at Highways England’s control centre in South Mimms has made a signifi cant difference to electricity consumption



PETER VAN DIJK is business development manager for Mitsubishi Electric [email protected]@mitsubishielectric.nl

WHO KEEPS THE CITY‘S

RHYTHM FLOWING?

Short delays, moderate travel times, fewer emissions, reduced noise.

There are plenty of reasons to optimise traffic lights in inner cities. PTV Group provides two tools to support traffic control centres in their everyday work. Traffic-adaptive network and signal control with PTV Balance and PTV Epics.

The ideal software tool for adaptive area traffic control. Optimise your traffic lights to shorten delays reduce travel times and emissions for all road users.

Developed for single nodes. The software runs directly inside the control unit. The mod-el-based process observes local conditions and calculates numerous control options every second.

Contact:PTV UK Ltd.Birmingham International Business ParkWellington House, Starley Way Solihull, B37 7HB, United Kingdom

[email protected]

Adv_Balance_Smart_Highways_10-2016.indd 1 18.10.2016 14:10:02

of its lower power consumption, improved lifespan and lack of need for colour wheels.

A digital light processing (DLP) rear projection cubes solution was chosen because of its ability to display static content for indefinite periods with no ill-effects, coupled with the 4:3 ratio of the existing camera feeds. Other deciding factors in favour of DLP included greater energy efficiency, simpler installation and the ability to deliver a virtually seamless display surface without any visible gaps or mullions.

The display system was an 8 x 3 configuration of Mitsubishi Electric 67” VS-67PE78 DLP cubes, upgrading the resolution of the main video wall from XGA to SXGA+, improving brightness and dramatically increasing the lifespan to 80,000 hours for the LED light sources and 100,000 hours for the remaining components.

The power savings per hour per cube are around 100-200 watts, which amounts to up to £5,000 per annum, not forgetting the reduced carbon footprint. Furthermore, the compact footprint of the display wall itself enables plenty of room for rear access, resulting in a neat and practical installation that fulfilled all of Highway England’s requirements.






http://vision-traffic.ptvgroup.com

Connecting safety

SAFETY

+ Smart motorways

mart Motorways use a combination of technology, infrastructure and people and

processes, working as a system, to manage the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. It is the interaction between these elements that enable each variant to function efficiently and effectively and to result in safe and reliable journeys.

A core feature that all these operational regimes have in common is that they all rely on technology, infrastructure and people provided by the road network operator for their safe and effective operation.

and also driving safely.Therefore people can easily become

the weakest link in the overall system – whilst infrastructure remains fixed and constant, the electronic equipment is tested and manufactured to various levels of reliability and consistency, people are the least consistent and reliable elements of the system.

The “professional” people are trained and tested but retain the potential to act differently in various circumstances – due to competing pressures, illness, etc, hence the less reliance on people to enable the system to function, the better!

Smart motorways are designed to manage congestion –and they need to be able to operate safely. The first such scheme in the UK, the M42 Active Traffic Management Pilot broke new ground in


WORDS BY IAN PATEY AND LUCY WICKHAM

ROLESPeople play various roles. In the Control Room they are responsible for verifying incident locations and severity through CCTV, opening and closing lanes, talking to motorists via roadside emergency telephones, coordinating emergency and breakdown resources, etc.

On the road, Traffic Officers respond to incidents, the emergency services and breakdown services, while maintenance staff repair the infrastructure and the electronic equipment that enables the smart motorway to operate.

Then of course there are the people who use the road. The operation of a smart motorway depends on the drivers who use it complying with the various instructions given (via electronic signs and signals)

S

Smart motorways, managed freeways and managed lanes have become essential tools that enable road network operators (RNOs) to manage congestion, enabling economic wellbeing and growth. But how do they remain safe, and how will they adapt to a connected future?

Safety relies on the interaction between technology, infrastructure and people

!



used by Highways England for the development of the managed motorway and smart motorway programmes. It has subsequently been developed into the standard GD04 “Standard for Safety Risk Assessment on the Strategic Road Network”.

GD04 provides a comprehensive framework for assessing, addressing and documenting the risks involved in constructing, operating and maintaining a road network and its constituent elements. It uses the concept of “trade off” where safety risks can be balanced between the various populations affected by the operation of the road.

POPULATIONSThe various populations affected are firstly the people directly employed by the Agency and who work on the Strategic Road Network such as Traffic Officers, and workers - people in a contractual relationship with the Agency, including Agency National Vehicle Recovery Contract operatives, all workers engaged in traffic management activities and incident support services, and any other activities where live traffic is present, (such as persons carrying out survey and inspection work).

Another population includes other parties, including road users, the police and emergency services as well

as those others not in a contractual relationship with the Agency, such as privately contracted vehicle recovery and vehicle repair providers.

Finally there are third parties which include any person or persons who could be affected by the network, but who are neither using it, nor working on it, such as those living or working adjacent to the network, using other transport networks that intersect with the SRN (including local roads, railways) and those who are living or working in properties owned by the Agency.

The use of such a quantified approach enabled Highways England to demonstrate the safe operation of the Pilot and then to further develop the concept by reducing the level of signing and signalling, and associated infrastructure in an auditable and evidence based way. The approach has consistently found that the top 8-10 risks/hazards contribute to around 80-90 per cent of the overall risk. Hence concentrating on these risks and hazards has the greatest potential for improving safety.

RISK BASEDThe development of smart motorways in the UK has followed a risk-based approach to demonstrating

road network operations and needed to demonstrate that it could operate safely. By opening the hard shoulder to traffic, the then-Highways Agency, needed to have certainty that it was safe to do so – it also needed a robust safety system to demonstrate that degree of safety.

STANDARDSBefore the scheme could be opened to traffic, it had to be certified as being as safe as a “standard” motorway. This had never been necessary for a road scheme before. There were established processes for ensuring safe designs, such as Road Safety Audits and a comprehensive set of design standards, but nothing for safe operation.

The international standard IEC 61508 Functional Safety of systems was used as the basis, using experience from the rail, aviation and defence industries. A ‘Safety case’ (re-badged as safety report for subsequent schemes) was developed for each operational regime using a risk and hazard identification and assessment process that had been designed for the Pilot. The quantified assessment demonstrated that the operation of the Pilot would be at least as safe as that of a “standard” motorway – the baseline having also been developed within that process. This safety methodology has been

¢

“ Whilst infrastructure remains fixed and constant, the electronic equipment is tested and manufactured to various levels of reliability and consistency, people are the least consistent and reliable elements of the system ”


SAFETY

+ Smart motorways

“safe operation”. This approach provides the basis for a methodology to assess how various connected vehicle features could impact upon the operation of a smart motorway, and eventually replace elements of the overall system currently provided by the RNO.

The highest rated risks/hazards for a smart motorway in England are identified as a tired driver who is unable to perceive hazards effectively, speed, pedestrians or stopped vehicles in the running lane, tailgating, rapid change of general vehicle speed, a vehicle drifting off the carriageway, maintenance workers setting up or taking down a site and a sudden weaving at the exit point.

CONNECTIONNow, what and where can connected vehicles replace elements of this equation? Can connected vehicles mitigate, partially or wholly, against any of these and hence make a significant difference? And can RNOs keep pace with the changes in the automotive industry?

If so, to what extent and can that result in an RNO removing any element of their existing system? What is the level of “penetration” of connected vehicle that is needed to provide a sufficient degree of confidence to an RNO to begin to rely on that rather than their own system?

MIDAS, for example, plays a significant role within the smart motorway system as it detects slow moving and queuing traffic, using algorithms and well-developed processing to automatically set signs and signals; this provides partial

connected vehicle features could provide a benefit to smart motorway operation.

It enables RNOs to engage with vehicle manufacturers and Policy makers to consider how the most significant benefits can be achieved, alongside a structured approach to realising marginal gains. A significant opportunity for RNOs is to gain an understanding of how their long-term investment plans may be impacted by wide scale adoption of connected vehicle features. There may also be the potential for encouraging the adoption of various connected features to reduce reliance on road based features – a holistic and strategic approach may involve innovative partnerships and after-market fitted devices.

REVOLUTIONConnected vehicles could revolutionise the operation of road networks – not just smart motorways (in all their guises) but in cities, towns and rural communities. But the existing paradigm of RNO providing the road network and being responsible for its safe and efficient operation will need to change fundamentally if the full benefits of connected vehicles are to be realised. In order for this to succeed there is a clear need for firm and decisive leadership across all the sectors involved, from Government to RNOs to the automotive industry, insurance sector and beyond; public education and societal changes will play a significant role.

The two methodologies – the Risk Based Approach and the Vehicle Feature/System Based Approach - provide a logical means of assessing how and where connected vehicle applications can make a significant difference to the operation of smart motorways and how and where such an application can replace an existing, RNO provided, aspect of the overall system.


NTIS data collection, processing and dissemination

mitigation of a number of the risks/hazards listed above.

Considering connected vehicle systems, Automated Emergency Braking, (AEB) should prevent a vehicle from driving into a vehicle in front, hence taking away the need for MIDAS (as there will be no nose to tail crashes) and also the need for a speed compliance/enforcement system.

The questions that an RNO would need to answer include, what maximum speed does a “standard” AEB system work and is that suitable for motorway operation, what proportion of vehicles need to be equipped with AEB for it to become the only “tool” required, what proportion of connected vehicles with AEB makes a significant impact on safety and risk, what are the implications in terms of changing responsibilities – RNO, driver, vehicle manufacturer and what changes, in terms of driver behaviour, when driving a vehicle equipped with AEB?

SUPPORTAnother example is lane support systems which should provide mitigation against “side swipe” crashes and the risk/hazard of “vehicle drifts off carriageway” – the effectiveness of such systems depends on good quality, clear, road markings. This places greater levels of responsibility on RNOs in terms of maintaining road markings – particularly their removal following road works.

These and similar questions will need to be addressed for each of the highest rated risks and hazards – creating an emerging picture of changes to those risks and hazards and where significant breakthroughs are likely to occur. This methodology provides a structured, logical approach to understanding how

IAN PATEY is Head of Profession at Mouchel [email protected]

LUCY WICKHAM is Senior Technical Director at Mouchel ConsultingLucy.Wickham@

mouchel.com

www.mouchel.com

“ The top 8-10 risks/hazards contribute to around 80-90 per cent of the overall risk ”

!


http://www.mouchel.com




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Going underground

SAFETY

+ Tunnels

hether a tunnel is for use by humans or not, they all have several factors they revolve

around. Providing an underground, uninterrupted path for some sort of service, they must not collapse or incur slippage internally, must retain security of ground above and only contain those services and elements the tunnel is built for.

Even for those tunnels not primarily designed for transporting humans, many are designed for allowing human access for servicing and maintenance purposes. This accessibility adds key elements to the facilities provided in the tunnels, namely, air, information points, emergency equipment (in some cases) and methods of escape.

Modern/new design tunnels (pictured, right) do, of course, have pictured, right) do, of course, have pictured, rightall necessary facilities built into the design but older ones needing to fulfil use in the modern day may be required to have additional features and operational needs applied to their legacy state. Such features may themselves bring additional

atmosphere, unauthorised access and information signs.

The above list is not exhaustive but does indicate the type of monitoring and control that is involved with maintaining the integrity and efficient use of tunnels. Obviously each type has differing requirements to some degree and all variables will be allowed some quantifiable limit, though in some cases, such as for security, this may be zero.

SENSORSSensors have to be used to gather the required data. These range from the very complex; such as laser sight sintering to monitor for wall movement, to a simple temperature sensor formed by the resistance of a single wire. Many sensors produce either a current or voltage proportional to the measured value or digital (on/off) data. However, with modern techniques applied all data can be transformed to being digital and then all transported on the same medium.

A further sensor that is often used is optical. Optical devices such as cameras and light sensing PIRs can easily be used to sense and display the presence or even non-presence of

W


WORDS BY JEAN-MARC OLIVIER


Tunnels, by their very nature, can cover many different uses and standards; mainly developed for safety in mind, both above and below ground and monitoring is a vital part of this, as Jean-Marc Olivier explains.

loads to the tunnel infrastructure and fabric so care has to be taken during their implementation. This may include extra loads on walls and ceiling (heavy equipment), extra power lines to equipment (EMI to other equipment) and change of use (safety precautions and equipment).

OPERATIONSWhen tunnels are used for the transportation of people, by road or rail, there is a lot to be monitored and controlled for safety. This includes checking throughput of service (such as the number of vehicles, person footfall count, ticketing), for failure of tunnel walls/roof, water seepage, air quality and movement of air,

!

Tunnels of all types share the same key elements for transport underground



network will probably be segmented both physically, ensuring several possible data paths which can be automatically selected, as well as in the virtual world, ensuring appropriate sources and destinations are available and interaction between services is kept to a minimum, usually accomplished with VLANs.

To provide such automatic fail-overs and service segregation requires a high level of interoperability between switches by utilizing managed switch components and routers, if applicable.

A typical solution for a video surveillance network could be implemented in such as the graphic above.

Where not just video data is transported but also sensor data, the same topology could be utilised. The ring mechanisms below the Aggregation Switch level would be overlaid such that cameras would be physically interspersed between

the 2 rings and hence 1 complete ring could fail but there would still be some video coverage in all areas. The dual connection into the Core Layer from each side gives a quadrupled fail-over possibility.

A further example of a vehicle transport tunnel may be as the graphic below. As can be seen, a different application but the topology is very similar.

The use of rings is discussed as a major benefit to aid automatic selection of data paths around the network. This is accomplished by the switches being chosen to support redundancy by them having inbuilt mechanisms, either proprietary or by defined protocol, to monitor not only themselves but also the state of the topology as a whole. In Industrial Automation such switch services allow users to maintain confidence in the data and information presented at all times, even in small failure modes or complete emergency situations.

In addition to the physical, we also mentioned VLAN implementation to segregate services, a secondary affect is also to maintain Quality of Service (QoS) which can also be augmented with QoS specific settings.

How is all this level of excellent data integrity accomplished? By ensuring redundancy is designed in at product level and the appropriate data items are monitored thus, tunnel safety, operations and maintainability for both users and owners can be efficiently progressed in an optimum fashion.

something with analytic algorithms applied to digital video streams. Indeed, this can also be extended to testing for air/water quality with the correct optics placement and analytical engines behind the raw data.

In all cases there is a cost for operating the tunnel and in many cases the cost is applied to the user of the service the tunnel gives; such as for road. The monitored data therefore must have a path back into the tunnel owner’s Business Model in order for those costs to be monitored and, where applicable, recoup of the costs from service users can be made. As such, the use of networks is paramount to obtaining results and data in addition to passing control aspects. Such networks, with such a large and critical impact on the company economy, must be rugged and able to automatically overcome failures in data transport.

NETWORKSThe network design for tunnels has to cater for several types of failures; not least are normal automation failures such as switch ports failing, Ethernet cables failing, switches completely failing or sectional power outages. Others that need to be catered for in the design are fires and explosions, surface movement due to earthquakes, slippage and explosions and environmental condition changes such as water ingress into the tunnels where none should be. Much of this can be catered for by allowing extra length of cabling between connections, loose fastening of cables to wall surfaces or carriers and armoured cabling or conduit being used throughout.

However, in areas of extreme possibility of water ingress, explosion or fire it is also worth considering fitting switch and sensor unit components into appropriate enclosures (sealed and armoured). Such implementation inside enclosures then forces a need to understand the heating effects of powered electronic devices and whether sustained operation will cause devices to operate at much higher than ambient temperatures.

Pursuant with requirements the

JEAN-MARC OLIVIER is European FAE Application Manager at Moxa Jean-Marc.Olivier@

moxa.com

www.moxa.com

Implementation of a typical solution for a video surveillance network

http://www.moxa.com




Indian lives

SAFETY

+ International view

hen one talks about India, the first point in mind that strikes is ‘population’ and why would it not?

India is the second most populated country in the world after China with a population of 1.25 billion and today faces the highest number of road accidents, twice as that of China. Within the country, road accidents are the eighth major cause of death at the moment and expected to be the fifth major cause by 2030.

The country suffers extremely shocking statistics with road accidents. There is one road death observed every FOUR MINUTES, 16 children die daily on roads, overall road accidents costs three per cent of the country’s GDP. Drunken driving is the main cause, followed by speeding. What is it that has resulted in such outrageous number of continuously increasing road accidents? It is an answer the Indian Government has been pushing for, but the push has

accident data and over estimation of official number of vehicles in cities and in the country are evident. It has been observed that the actual numbers of road accidents in the country overall are much more than those recorded and published. It is practically unimaginable to witness those numbers. India says it observes 11 deaths per 100,000 population whereas the WHO (World Health Organisation) estimates 16.6. According to the MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways), 61 per cent of the overall RTI (Road Traffic Injury) occur in rural areas and many cases are under reported. Traffic Police are the major and only source of collecting such data in the country. There is no technology or any independent system associated with road accident data collection. Moreover, the efficiency of the traffic policemen has a significant impact. The perception of a policeman I have spoken to is that 80 per cent or more cases are as a result of human error and there is no understanding of the cause

W


WORDS BY MAYANK BALAKRISHNAN


Indian ITS consultant Mayank Balakrishnan laments the appalling safety record in India and asks why technology is yet to be embraced there to make things better

seen no difference if one goes through these statistics.

JAW JAWThere is a lot of talking, meetings, discussions taking place which are extremely important for an effective implementation of a system, but it all seems to end there. Heavy investments in time and money are made at this stage, but the next stage seems to me to be a carefree, let it go attitude. The statistics shown below are also a result of the investments over the years in the wrong direction and an attitude with a poor, short term approach.

A large number of reasons are associated with the poor accident statistics in the country. Let us brush through two major ones.

Firstly, poor management, poor data collection, underestimation of road

“ Looking at advanced technology applications in road safety, India is still far away from achieving the desired goal ”

!



RakshaNet – A network of emergency services. It consists of a panic button, which is fitted in the vehicle and capable of GPS tracking, reporting telemetric and improving driver behaviour. The system is aligned with the UN resolution on ‘Improving Global Road Safety’ and Government of India’s proposed ‘Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014’.

Looking at advanced technology applications in road safety, India is still far away from achieving the desired goal. There is no form of technology used whatsoever in the past or at present in India that makes Indian roads safer to travel and make data collection more efficient and convenient. Recent ‘Smart City’ initiatives by the government have focussed and prioritised this area and it is a matter of time now to observe how many of those initiatives would turn reality.

AFFORDABILITYHowever, one cannot deny the fact

that the growth of this country economically is very steady and healthy, the fastest growing country in the world. Indians are getting rich and the country is observing large amounts of foreign investments which have always created a decent employment scenario. India is a young country with more than 50 per cent of the population below the age of 25 and with an improved literacy rate; it is very interesting to observe the positive attitude of the younger minds towards following traffic rules and overall development of the country. With this positivity in the air, India is definitely on the right track towards being a well organised resourceful developing country provided, the government mandates ‘Enforcement’ as a political ideology. It would not matter even if the sole motive of this ideology is mandated to win votes in the world’s largest democracy.

International companies with great traffic technology solutions would certainly be welcome here!

of accidents as a result of the vehicle, road and infrastructure design. In 2013, the Global Burden Disease (GBD) estimated 264,000 deaths which was twice the deaths reported by traffic police.

Secondly, lack of enforcement has created ‘a no fear of traffic law’ and ‘I don’t care’ environment in most parts of the country. With a personal experience of travelling within India and abroad, a conclusion can be clearly made that enforcement can definitely govern Indian behaviour. One would not find an Indian breaking traffic rules in the USA or UK whereas, every third road user would break a traffic law in India. It all comes down to developing a particular system, which we are very good at and enforcing and maintaining that system, which we are equally bad. In a very general context, one would definitely not find an Indian breaking a rule in an airport within the country whereas, that same individual would be found spitting or throwing trash all over a railway station or a bus stop. With these observations, enforcement is the need of the hour to understand and modify human behaviour in India.

TECHNOLOGYIndia has seen a significant boom in the IT industry in the last decade which has accelerated the application of software in most fields. A very small amount of this has also been seen in the areas of road safety and data management. Road Accident Data Management Systems (RADMS) is a GIS based system that is used extensively in the state of Tamil Nadu which experiences the second highest accidents in the country. The system clearly simplifies accident data that is required for analysis. Start-ups are given very strong encouragement by the government of India which has turned out to be positive for the development in many cases. A start up in India’s IT hub city Bangalore known as Elsys intelligent devices introduced a road safety platform and launched the Raksha (Meaning ‘Protection’ in Hindi language) Safe Drive. This system is enabled by electronics, internet, telecommunication and cloud technology connected to the

MAYANK BALAKRISHNAN is Transport Consultant at India’s Institute for Transportation and Development Policy mayank.balakrishnan@

gmail.com

Figure 1: Fatality numbers Figure 2: Private vehicle numbers

Source: TRIPP, Road Safety in India – Status Report, 2015

Traffi c in Gwalior, almost 200 miles south of New Delhi. The city is one of a hundred selected to be developed as a smart city




Safer cycling

SAFETY

+ Case study

f it is up to the Liverpool City Council, an extra 30,000 residents will be cycling in

and around the city over the next few years. Officials are keen to make cycling easier and more convenient in the city and say they will invest in the creation of a network of safe cycle routes, improvements in safety training and enforcement, and ensuring that cycling is included in council policies.

One way they did this was to developed a dedicated bike scheme for Leeds Street, which links directly with thoroughfare The Strand, where the historic Waterfront and Three Graces are located. The scheme includes road resurfacing, innovative traffic signals, LED street lighting, public realm regeneration, cycle and pedestrian facilities and capacity improvements. It improves transport links, by removing pinch points at junctions and increases the capacity of the Leeds Street route, which links North Liverpool with the city’s commercial district.

The innovative traffic signals at the junctions with Vauxhall Road and Pall Mall now help cyclists beat traffic. A signal displaying a green bike comes on before the full green for other traffic, allowing cyclists a five second head start on other vehicles. The signal expires when the full green light comes on. The signals are supported by FLIR ThermiCam sensors, which detect

cyclists and distinguish them from other vehicles, meaning the advance lights are not used when there are no cyclists, avoiding delays to other road users.

“The two junctions on Leeds Street were designed to make cyclists more confident in our city traffic and at the same time, increase awareness with

I


Above: ThermiCam detects vehicles and cyclists in the darkest of nights, over a long range and in the most diffi cult weather conditions. The Leeds Street/Vauxhall Road junction is pictured

Right: ThermiCam detects cyclists and distinguishes them from other vehicles, meaning the advance lights are not used when there are no cyclists, avoiding delays to other road users

In an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, the city of Liverpool wants to encourage people to leave the car at home more often and go cycling instead. But in order to make that happen, its streets need to become a lot safer for cyclists.

WORDS BY RUUD HEIJSMAN

!



Systems would be able to help us with that.”

Both Vauxhall Road and Pall Mall now have one ThermiCam unit on both sides of Leeds Street. The sensor does not need light to operate, but uses the thermal energy emitted from vehicles and cyclists. This

enables the sensor to detect vehicles and bikes in the darkest of nights, over a long range and in the most difficult weather conditions. In this case, the intelligent sensor is transmitting its cycle detection information to the traffic light controller and thus it allows for a more dynamic control of traffic lights. This results in reduced vehicle idling time, improved traffic flow and improved safety and mobility for cyclists.

ThermiCam not only detects cyclists at the stop line, but also within a more advanced distance from the stop line, so that the traffic signal can take into account the cycle presence sooner before the stage change point. This reduces the number of cyclists arriving at the stop line just after the stage change decision and missing out on the cycle stage, which would have been missed out because the demand wasn’t received soon enough.

motorists about the presence of cyclists,” says James Leeming, Senior Project Manager at the Liverpool City Council. “If cyclists coming from Vauxhall Road and Pall Mall want to cross Leeds Street, they have to effectively cross six lanes. In the previous traffic layout, cyclists had to cross the junction at the same time as traffic. For some cyclists, this is often not enough. Not to mention how dangerous it can be when big vehicles and cyclists cross the street together in a crowded traffic situation at pinch points.”

“Leeds Street is a major strategic route into Liverpool so we certainly did not want to add an additional ‘cycle’ stage, on top of the normal traffic signal stages and increase waiting times for both cyclists and motor vehicles, creating frustration. Instead, we chose a demand-based head start for cyclists without long intergreen periods that activated when cyclists arrived at the intersection so they also get the use of the following full green stage. To make this happen we needed reliable cycle detection. We knew FLIR

RUUD HEIJSMAN is a a manager, EMEA at FLIR Systemsruud.heijsman@ flir.com www.flir.com

“ The sensor does not need light to operate, but uses the thermal energy emitted from vehicles and cyclists. This enables the sensor to detect vehicles and bikes in the darkest of nights, over a long range and in the most difficult weather conditions ”

FLIR’s ThermiCam sensor in close-up

http://www.flir.com


mailto:ruud.heijsman@%EF%AC%82ir.com

mailto:ruud.heijsman@%EF%AC%82ir.com

http://www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk


THE VIEW

+ What the customer wants

p to the end of September 2015, 1,780 people died on the

roads of Great Britain. There were 23,780 people killed or seriously injured and 188,830 casualties. If any other area of activity caused that level of carnage it would not be tolerated and yet most of those deaths will not have made the pages of any national newspaper and may, at most, have rated a few lines in a local paper or a few bunches of wilting flowers added to an impromptu road side shrine.

It is a mystery to me how we, as a society, have become inured to death and tragedy on this scale. And we don’t just tolerate it, many of us complain about the counter measures deployed to reduce it! We complain about speed cameras to the point where in many areas they have been switched off; we turn a blind eye to the blokes in the rural pub who we know will drive their car home because ‘they are only having a couple of pints and there are no buses’; or we say nothing when we see someone ‘just taking a quick call’ using a hand held mobile.

Between 220 and 260 deaths in 2015 occurred in accidents where at least one driver was over the legal alcohol limit. In 2014, speed was a factor in 16 per cent of accidents resulting in death and recent research found 20 per cent of drivers admit to using a hand held phone. And one in six vehicles have no MOT and it’s likely that most of these should not be on the road.

The truth is we give ourselves ‘a pass’ from having to take the sort of measures that would make serious inroads into road casualties because we tell ourselves our roads are as safe as any in the world. Which is true – but it is the same as saying we won’t expect Tesco to take food safety too seriously because there are fewer cases of food poisoning here than you get abroad!

If, as a society, we were serious about cutting death on the roads then we could start with a ‘zero tolerance’

policy towards certain road traffic offences. These would be offences that we not only deplore but which we expect the police to enforce rigorously. For example, why not widen the powers of community support officers to allow them to monitor driving behaviour and issue tickets – they could be used to clamp down hard on mobile phone use at the wheel?

And technology could do quite a lot to help too.

Intelligent Speed Adaptation would make sure we always drive at the right speed or, failing that, use average speed enforcement systems through villages and built up areas; rigorous use of number plate recognition to pull off the road every vehicle with no MOT and insurance and impound the vehicle concerned; and greater use of

alcohol activated vehicle immobilisers would keep drinkers off the road.

We could also use technology to better protect certain types of road-user. Options include using cycle detection technology to prioritise cyclists at traffic lights, warning lights to make sure lorry drivers know that a cyclist is in the inside lane, or illuminated road studs to show cyclists safe routes through complex junctions. And could proximity sensors in cars be used to warn us if we are not giving cyclists enough room?

What about a wider roll out of collision detection and lane departure systems by making them compulsory in new cars? Could ‘driving improvement’ apps be made a compulsory component of insurance policies so that the least safe drivers get hit where it hurts – in their pocket. And could active and solar road studs be used more frequently to make driving safer in adverse conditions?

The possibilities are endless and you and your fellow readers will have your own ideas – and no doubt your own products to offer. But the solutions have a cost - a financial cost and a political cost - and until we, as a society, are prepared to pay that cost the carnage will continue.

U

The former Labour transport minister considers road safety and asks why people are so against measures to make us safer

Dr Stephen Ladyman

“ It is a mystery to me how we, as a society, have become inured to death and tragedy on

this scale. And we don’t just tolerate it, many of us complain

about the counter measures deployed to reduce it”

Dr Stephen Ladyman was the UK Minister of State for Transport between 2005-07. Today he is the Smart City

Ambassador for Clearview Intelligence. He can be contacted at [email protected] and

Clearview Intelligence can be contacted at 01869 362800




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EVENTS

+ Highways Magazine Excellence Awards


Huw-g night of celebration

The 2016 Highways Magazine Excellence Awards took place on 6th October at the Radison Blu Portman Hotel in London in a glittering black-tie celebration of the Highways and ITS industriesPortman Hotel in London in a glittering black-tie celebration of the Highways and ITS industriesPortman Hotel in London in a glittering black-tie celebration of the Highways and ITS industriesPortman Hotel in London in a glittering black-tie celebration of the Highways and ITS industries

nd the news is, TV news anchor Huw Edwards captivated the audience through the awards ceremony, described by those

who were there as the “perfect host”.Some 442 people were at the event

which saw 13 awards given out.The Jacobs-sponsored award

for best use of new technology in the Highways Industry went to Costain for the Dartford Safety Cell system which is used to detect and manage non-compliant vehicles in the Dartford Tunnels Freeflow Charging Scheme. The judges praised the system for its improvement in traffic times.

The Dartford Safety Cell beat Tarmac and Norfolk County Council

Aand HDS’s implementation of a reliable and accurate data capture system for asphalt laying and compaction, as part of a long term project to understand and reduce inbuilt defects and increase durability and HRS Kier’s Smart Taper system which creates safer and more efficient road users and road workers.

The Best Use of New Technology Award is won by an organisation or local authority which can demonstrate that they have or are making a significant improvement to the highways industry through the implementation of new technology, this could be new software, innovative equipment or an ITS solution.

A full list of all the award winners on the night is opposite.



MOST INNOVATIVE HIGHWAY AUTHORITY PROJECT/SCHEME OF THE YEARSponsored by Tripod CrestA-ONE+

A66 Scotch Corner to Hartforth – the 1,000 tonne challenge SITE SAFETY INITIATIVE AWARDPlatinum sponsorship DynniqHIGHWAYS ENGLAND

Managing Fatigue in the Workplace ROAD SAFETY SCHEME OR PROJECT OF THE YEARSponsored by Mac SurfacingTRANSPORT SCOTLAND

A9 Interim Safety Plan AWARD FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE HIGHWAYS SECTORPlatinum sponsorship Total BitumenSKANSKA

M25 J30/A13 Corridor Relieving Congestion Scheme ROAD MARKING PROJECT OF THE YEARSponsored by RSMACLEARVIEW INTELLIGENCE

LTD, TRANSPORT SCOTLAND,

BEAR SCOTLAND, EDINBURGH

NAPIER UNIVERSITY, AMEY

A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout; Lane Transgression Mitigation with the Intelligent Road Stud TEAM OF THE YEARSponsored by SkanskaKIER HIGHWAYS

A591 Reconnecting Cumbria – Area 13 MAC Team

HIGHWAY PARTNERSHIP AWARDSponsored by WJ GroupTRANSPORT SCOTLAND

Forth Road Bridge Closure and Re-opening APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR AWARDSponsored by National Highway Engineering AcademyTARMAC

Liam Owen HIGHWAY INDUSTRY PRODUCT OF THE YEARPlatinum sponsorship Shell BitumenSKANSKA

The Dragon Patcher HIGHWAYS MAINTENANCE EFFICIENCY AWARDSponsored by KierTARMAC AND WALSALL

COUNCIL

Delivering Effi ciencies on Walsall’s Roads MAJOR PROJECT AWARDSponsored by TarmacCOSTAIN

A160 Port of Immingham Improvement AWARD FOR THE BEST USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY IN THE HIGHWAYS INDUSTRYSponsored by JacobsCOSTAIN

Dartford Safety Cell JUDGES’ SPECIAL MERIT AWARDSponsored by Mobile Visual Information Systems (MVIS)KIER HIGHWAYS

A591 Reconnecting Cumbria – Area 13 MAC Team

HMEA 2016 – THE WINNERS



EVENTS

+ ITS World Congress

e’re absolutely delighted that over 11,400 delegates from around the world have attended the World Congress – particularly

as we had hoped for 7,000,” said Brian Negus, Chair of the World Congress Board of Directors and President of ITS Australia as he smiled at the end of what was a hugely enjoyed week in Melbourne. “ITS is a vastly diverse industry, so it was fantastic to have 73 countries represented and to see so many new products, new partnerships and world first innovations announced during the week. This was in addition to the myriad of world first demonstrations using the newest technology platforms.”

He was right to be smiling too. For me, it was the best Congress I’ve been to, and those who have been to many more were fulsome in their praise of the event. It was held in a modern, well run congress centre on the banks of the Yarra River right in the middle of Melbourne with the demonstrations taking place in Albert Park, the home of the Australian Grand Prix.

Pride of place there was the Bosch self-driving car, which was so popular

W

54

Above: schoolchildren worked on projects to design their own smart cities

Right: as a sideshow from ITS, one of the most popular stands featured native Australian animals

every single seat was filled for every single demonstration, and still many who wanted a ride were unable to get one. The Easymile self-driving pod was also there, along with Victoria Police showing off their squad car fitted with the latest ADAS technology, which underlined their commitment to road safety by using more than enforcement.

There were plenty more demonstrations at the congress centre with GTT (Global Traffic Technologies) showing their signal priority system in live conditions. When I joined them they managed to do a loop of Melbourne’s centre more than twice as quickly when using their system

compared to not, which shows how many lives could be saved if it were used by the emergency services, or how much more reliable bus services could be if they were used for public transport.

Australian company Intelematics demonstrated a simple connected car warning system which alerts drivers to the proximity of emergency vehicles, while Kapsch had a live V2X demo which showed speed limits, roadworks, congestion and more live to a tablet within the vehicle.

Mobility as a service was central to the discussions again. Cubic were keen


Doing it right Down Under

The 23rd ITS World Congress took place in Melbourne in October, attracting just under 11,500 people from more than 70 countries. Smart Highways editor Paul Hutton was lucky enough to be one of them…

“


to show their multi-modal solution to managing cities so that the different transport modes are not managed in silos but integrated. Miller Crockart of PTV said that, for MaaS to work, smart routing and demand management had to be taken into account, so transport modelling was vital to understand this. Xerox, meanwhile, were highlighting their “Go” apps for, among others Los Angeles and Denver in the US, where travellers are given a range of route choices based on speed, cost or even environmental concerns.

Collaboration between companies was another topic, with Swarco sharing their stand with their local partners, while MVIS/Bartco’s Australian and UK operations appeared together and stressed the need to work together to maximise opportunities in a market.

There were more than a thousand sessions which took place during the

week. Mott MacDonald’s session on software developed for different road agencies to work together to manage traffic incidents across their differing networks was well attended. It was also interesting to hear from Jenoptik about how different rules in Australia meant their average speed camera data could also be used for understanding traffic

movements, something that is not allowed under current regulations in the UK.

There were two extremely heartening things I took away from the congress. One was the interest shown by politicians. Representatives from the Australian federal government were there along with the roads minister of Victoria and the mayor of Melbourne. They didn’t just turn up to speak but actually took a real interest in what was being talked about in Melbourne, which can only bode well for the industry there. But probably the best bit of the week was the sheer enthusiasm for the subject shown by the large number of schoolchildren who were there on the Thursday and the Friday. They weren’t just there for a day off school but because they really wanted to understand the opportunities for smart cities and intelligent transport. And some of the ideas they had were fascinating, particularly when it came to them designing their own cities and how they saw transport and services fitting together. It would well be worth anyone putting on a show in the UK to chat with ITS Australia about how they worked with schools to fire the youngsters’ enthusiasm, because it sure worked.

I was in Melbourne making the official podcasts of the event. You can find a link to the four podcasts via the news pages of the Smart Highways website, or search for them from the official World Congress site’s Media pages.

Montreal 2017 has a lot to live up to.


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Clockwise from far left: Transurban won the 2016 Diversity Award, supported by ITS (UK); unsurprisingly, Bosch’s self-driving car was the most popular demonstration; and Graham Hanson from the DfT learns more about PTV’s transport modelling techniques



ITS UK

+ News round-up

was recently asked to contribute some future technology thinking to a major feasibility study looking at new strategic

corridors in the UK, specifically a potential new expressway route between Oxford and Cambridge. Putting aside the question of how many people would want to travel between these two fine cities, the issue for me was how to advise about what technology to expect over a planning horizon of the next 20 years and what the implications for road infrastructure construction might be. The current technology of expressways is relatively well defined thanks to specifications from Highways England but what might it look like two decades from now? Vehicle propulsion technology, for example, is developing all the time and we can expect increasing use of electric vehicles and possibly Fuel Cell (hydrogen) vehicles by that time. So, the infrastructure has to support these power options either with fixed point fuelling services or perhaps with stretches of roadway incorporating inductive charging capability.

Vehicle ownership may not immediately concern road builders but the ownership models and the sharing of vehicles could have large impacts on the demand for travel and the demand for parking, and we are likely to see further development in this area which may also blur the distinction between private and shared transport.

Proponents of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) see a future where integrated ticketing and much greater integration of modes will also mean that travellers will want to use and pay for highways in a much more flexible and contingent way. It’s unclear how this might affect the traffic mix between small individual vehicles and larger vehicles such as buses, and hence requirements for pavement loading, but there will still be the requirement to cater for both light and heavy vehicles.

Mobile communications is a key area for the future – whether cellular, short range (from roadside beacons and between vehicles) or satellite. The capabilities are developing all the time fuelled by customer demands for connectivity and for bandwidth.

It’s still unclear if future generations of cellular systems will have the latencies and robustness for all vehicle control functions but they will certainly provide information and entertainment services. Ideally, vehicle occupants would like transparent access to the internet, eg through mobile Wi-Fi services, and at modest cost. So, a mixed communications environment for future roads with many options and technologies is likely to be required.

Road and traffic-related information is already important to drivers – both provided from the infrastructure on signs and, increasingly, though in-vehicle devices providing routing guidance, advice and strategic information (including about

I

56

Expressways of the future


ITS UK calendar 2016Wednesday 2nd November Smart Environment Interest Group — Newcastle University

Monday 14th November Local Authority ITS Day — TS Catapult, Milton Keynes

Tuesday 15th November RUC Forum for ITS (UK) RUC Interest Group / ITS Ireland — Arup, Dublin

Friday 25th November Young Professionals’ Workshop with DfT Chief Scientifi c Advisor — Newcastle University

Tuesday 6th December Smart Environment and Security & Resilience Interest Groups Joint Meeting — Arup, Leeds

Thursday 8th December Public Transport Interest Group — venue tbc

Tuesday 13th December CVIG Interest Group Meeting — venue tbc

Thursday 15th December Council Meeting – IBI Group, London

Thursday 15th December Christmas Dinner for Members & Staff — Strand Palace Hotel, London WC2

From the Chairman



Expressways of the future


Our Smart Environment Interest Group, which looks at ways of using Intelligent Transport Systems to mitigate emissions and noise issues arising from road transport, collaborated with Transport Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to hold a workshop on “Integrated Models – Transport, Air Quality, and Real Time Decision Making” on 6 September in Edinburgh.

The event attracted some 60 transport and environment professionals and was very well received. The workshop discussed the latest developments on the National

Modelling Framework (NMF), the National Low Emission Framework (NLEF), and the opportunities for cross professional working on developing these new approaches to decision making. The participants considered how to collate and integrate the current transport models to new NMF air quality capacity models. One of the outcomes of the event is planned to be the further development of an academic-led community in Scotland to provide supporting evidence and added value on transport and air quality management.

INTEREST GROUP ROUND-UP

ALAN STEVENS is

Chairman of ITS (UK) and

Chief Scientist at TRL

Just recently the BBC announced that the majority of us adults in the UK are now seemingly glued to their smartphones day and night, with it often being the last object you touch before you go to bed and the first thing you reach for in the morning. Now I know that I am not quite that dependent on my phone personally, but their versatility now certainly means they are becoming ever more intrusive in our lives.

One area where smartphones are perhaps becoming too intrusive is when we get behind the wheel. At that point, we should be wholly focused on where we are trying to get to, the road conditions ahead and other potential hazards and road users around us. But I’m sure we’ve all been tempted just to take a quick sneak peek after that fateful “ping” alerts us to something new having arrived either in our inbox or from some app that we’re subscribed to. And that’s all it takes, that snap decision to glance away just for a couple of seconds and our lives and others around us can be changed forever.

New proposals put forward by the RAC Foundation for mobile phone manufacturers to offer a “drive-safe” mode to eliminate some of these distractions should be welcomed. Even if a drive-safe mode was made available or even supported by legislation, there’s a huge difference between what is law and user habit, as can be evidenced by the number

of people still holding phones today whilst driving.

It is user adoption that created this behaviour change and we need to be doing something to snap people out of this haze and invoke a

second behaviour change. We need to break through

to them, to disrupt them from the distraction and re-focus

their attention on the roads. Create a new behaviour. If its alerts and pings that they sit up and take notice from, then we need to be doing the same, with visual warnings in the one place they should be looking, the roads themselves. If users are given the information in their natural line of sight when driving, you have more chance of capturing and retaining their attention. They can decide for themselves what course of action they want to take.

It can all be done so simply. And cost effectively. Using a combination of different technologies such as active road studs, vehicle activated LED road signs and other forms of detection, road users can be visually alerted to possible hazards in advance, giving them time to change the way in which they approach and travel through areas such as winding country roads, large spiral roundabouts, staggered junctions on dual carriageways and even along narrow village roads. Changing their behaviour, making them feel more in control and saving lives in the process.

View from an SME

Smarter (phone) safetyWAYNE STANT is Marketing Director at Clearview Intelligence

other modes). The trend of more in-vehicle information may develop such that some roadside signage can be scaled down, rather as roadside telephones have been largely replaced by personal mobiles.

Then, there is the substantial and potentially disruptive issue of vehicle connectivity and automation and the impact that this will have on the traffic environment, both in smart cities and smart corridors. Connectivity and automation is widely expected to increase safety and throughput when fully introduced, but there will be many issues for road users and for road operators during the long transition period. Platooning of heavy trucks is likely to be trialled on UK roads over the next few years and, if successful and useful, could transform how many key link roads operate. The effect of many closely-spaced axels on the road pavement is an area for further study which may affect construction requirements. Ad-hoc platooning of individual vehicles (eg as a form of connected cruise control) could also be one of the ways in which more automated vehicles would make use of the road space. Perhaps lane markings will become more important in the near term to support automated vehicles but may, ultimately, not be required at all?

The important question for the infrastructure builders is what all these possible future technologies mean for planning today. We know, for example, that work on sensors is developing all the time and that road loops are increasingly being replaced by above ground detectors. Perhaps in years to come fixed video cameras will be replaced by flying drones able to communicate with motorists and potentially to intervene by physically blocking lanes, for example. This illustrates the different timescales between the basic physical road infrastructure and technology. Roads are built to the timescale of generations or centuries; vehicles to tens of years and the latest technology is developing even more rapidly. Clearly, we have to anticipate multiple generations of technology over a 20+ year period. The key piece of advice, therefore, to road planners is not to build in technology but to build in the capability to fit and refit technology over the lifetime of the road.


THE AMERICAN VIEW

+ Driverless transportation

ummer 2016 may prove to be the time when new mobility captured

the American imagination and became the future of transportation.

The big news was the US government putting its stamp of approval on autonomous vehicles by announcing guidelines on safety and regulations, and asking the 50 states to create uniform policies on the technology.

Uber rolled out its driverless vehicle in Pittsburgh for widespread use. The ridesharing pioneer calls the vehicle ‘driverless’ even though there will be two Uber people in the car, one to take control as necessary and the second to keep him/her company. Sorry, I mean to check that things like the mapping systems and LiDAR are working OK.

Ford purchased Chariot, a San Francisco-based shuttle service offering “crowd-sourced” rides. Crowd sourced meaning that rider-demand drives where the bus goes, a concept very different from the 80-passenger, fixed-route, stuck-in-congested-traffic buses that for some unfathomable reason dominate urban areas in the US.

Ford said it would expand Chariot’s nimble 15-passenger bus/vans to five more markets in 18 months. Ford also invested in the Motivate bikeshare program and pledged to have 7,000 bikes available in the Bay area by 2018.

What else? We saw Tier 1 supplier Delphi Automotive and innovator Mobileye announce they would test a turn-key self-driving car system in early 2017 with plans to launch a fully autonomous vehicle by 2019.

Not only does that show how fast this technology is moving, but it also demonstrates the impact of parts suppliers on today’s auto world.

Then you’ve got the odd Medium column from Lyft leader John Zimmer. He predicted Lyft would run only autonomous vehicles in 2021, and that car ownership would “all but end” by 2025 in major US cities. Lyft has already been testing driverless vehicles in Phoenix and San Francisco.

Zimmer may be whistling past the graveyard as observers believe Lyft is garnering a meager 20 per cent market share versus Uber’s 80 per cent in most cities where they compete.

What really sold for me the acceptance of the new mobility was a meeting of the Transportation Techies held by Mobility Lab in Arlington, Virginia.

I live in the area so I’m prejudiced. But please hear me out.

This meeting offered several presentations on new mobility ideas for metro Washington DC, a modest-sized metropolis with arguably the worst congestion in the nation.

Oversight of transportation infrastructure is shared by DC and the states of Virginia and Maryland, along with multiple parochial players. Roads, bridges, transit have been left to rot for 30-40 years by local and federal leadership. Commuters stew in traffic. Everyone’s frustrated.

The Mobility Lab proposals generally relied on smartphone tech for building a community of enough users/consumers to pay the bills. Some of the ideas had money and experience behind them, others appeared to be pipe dreams.

One concept was crowd-sourced buses that would take millennials from Congress to K Street. A guy wanted to assist carpooling in suburbia. Another pushed his Airbnb for cars.

I liked the one that sought to put all the transportation options in the

area into your smartphone so you could compare costs and travel time.

My takeaway was that the extraordinary energy of new mobility fostered by Silicon Valley is now impacting second-tier spots like DC. That indicates mass acceptance is on its way.

No doubt, there will be hitches, glitches and cock-ups on the way to Mobility as a Service (MaaS) or Transportation as a Service (TaaS), or whatever the new mobility ends up being acronym-ed into.

But still, the revolution is here.

USEFUL LINKSMlab http://mobilitylab.org/2016/08/24/techies-traffi c-solutions-sharing/DOT - https://www.transportation.gov/AV

Mobileye http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/mobileye-delphi-self-driving-cars-2019/

Lyft https://shift.newco.co/the-third-transportation-revolution-27860f05fa91#.4gkhp5fwl

Uber http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-driverless-car-problems-2016-9/#a-big-problem-for-self-driving-cars-is-simply-having-to-deal-with-other-human-drivers-on-the-road-1

Mobilitylab http://mobilitylab.org/

Ford https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/09/09/ford-partnering-with-global-cities-on-new-transportation--chario.html

“ The big news was the US govern-ment putting its stamp of approval on auto-nomous vehicles by announcing guidelines on safety and regulations ”

Summer of the Revolution


SWORDS BY BURNEY SIMPSON

Then you’ve got the odd Medium column from Lyft leader John Zimmer. He predicted Lyft would run only autonomous vehicles in 2021, and that car ownership would “all but end” by 2025 in major US cities. Lyft has already been testing driverless vehicles in Phoenix and San Francisco.

Zimmer may be whistling past


American blogger Burney Simpson from the Driverless Transportation website keeps us up to date with

what’s going on across the Pond, telling us the New Mobility Revolution is gathering steam stateside

http://mobilitylab.org/2016/08/24/techies-traffic-solutions-sharing/DOT

https://www.transportation.gov/AV

http://fortune.com/2016/08/23/mobileye-delphi-self-driving-cars-2019

https://shift.newco.co/the-third-transportation-revolution-27860f05fa91#.4gkhp5fwl



http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-driverless-car-problems-2016-9/#a-big-problem-fro-self-driving-cars-is-simply-having-to-deal-with-other-human-drivers-on-the-road-1

http://mobilitylab.org/

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/09/09/ford-partnering-with-global-cities-on-new-transportation--chario.html




https://www.transportation.gov/AV



http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-driverless-car-problems-2016-9/#a-big-problem-fro-self-driving-cars-is-simply-having-to-deal-with-other-human-drivers-on-the-road-1



SWARCO TRAFFIC Ltd.

SWARCO I First in Traffic Solutions.

SWARCO SmART CITy meSSengeRFull COlOuR mATRIx TRAIleR VmS

SWARCO Traffic Ltd. is proud to introduce the new Smart City Messenger, a full colour trailer mounted variable message sign with the following breakthrough features:

� UTMC connectivity – control it just as you would a fixed VMS� Extended operational life – using fuel cell technology to provide year round operation with no visits to swap batteries� Full colour text and graphics display� Unbeatable SWARCO optical performance� High Resolution provides TSRGD compliance

Available in a range of sizes to suit all road speeds and deployments, the Smart City Messenger is now available to order.

Talk to us first for your mobile messaging solutions.

SWARCO Traffic Limited7 Mercury Road, Gallowfields Trading Estate, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4TQ, UKT. +44 (0)1748 824624, E. [email protected]/stl

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mailto:[email protected]/stl

siemens.co.uk/traffic

Traffic Managers face multiple challenges; busy roads, limited resources, budgetary restrictions and ever-changing technology.

At Siemens, we have the expertise and the broadest range of proven traffic management solutions and services in the UK. That unique combination has made us market leaders, committed to meet your operational needs in ITS, balancing emissions with transport efficiency and optimising transport modes, assets and network performance.

That means operational service and system support at every level you might need, from route and junction monitoring to full strategic traffic control and network optimisation provided by the industry’s leading traffic consultants and engineers. From design to delivery, talk to us today about ITS operational support and traffic management.

Call us on 01202 782000 or visit our website.

Supporting traffic managers with operational service excellence.

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http://Siemens.co.uk/traffic

Documents

Volume 4 Number 4 It’s electrifyingmailers.aladltd.co.uk/digital_issues/SmartHighwaysVol4No4.pdf · smartHIGHWAYS Vol 4 No 4 3 FROM THE EDITOR + Smart thinking Ian Patey is Head