Technology can play a key role in cutting road congestion and improving passenger services on buses and trains, says the Department for Transport.

The department recently published its Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) policy framework outlining how technology can improve safety and bring added economic, environmental and social benefits.

‘Technology, and intelligent transport systems specifically, already form an important part of our delivery plans for future transport,’ said Dr Stephen Ladyman, minister of state for transport.

‘By helping road users to travel more safely, on less congested roads and on
better public transport services with improved information services, ITS brings economic, environmental and social benefits in many ways.’

The government is working with private sector partners on a number of high-profile transport technology projects, ranging from the European Rail Traffic Management System (Computing, 18 August) to improve safety on the railways, through to plans for a national road pricing scheme.

On the roads, the Highways Agency has announced a £490m, 10-year project to develop a national high-speed communications network to allow traffic managers to react to problems and travel trouble spots (Computing, 22 September).

‘If you are going to deal with congestion on our roads it needs multiple solutions,’ said Ladyman, at Orange’s Moving Faster: Mobile Communication Transport seminar in Westminster, last week.

‘It requires new road building, reduction of pinch points and active traffic
management initiatives, such as traffic officers and the national traffic control centres. We need to treat roads as we treat the airways and planes, so we can intelligently spot the jams.’

But if the government is to achieve its objectives for reducing traffic congestion, it will require citizens to use public transport more frequently, according to Bill Tyson, chairman and managing director of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) transport management group.

‘Increased use of public transport is essential to the government objective of reducing traffic congestion and improving the environment,’ he said.

And with the government trying to increase public bus usage by 12 per cent before 2010, bus operators are looking at technology to help make public transport journeys more appealing.

The GMPTE, for example, is working with local bus operators and mobile operator Orange to improve timetabling information – see below – and reduce passenger inconvenience of waiting around at a bus stop on a dark, rainy night.

The GMPTE is also looking at how to introduce mobile payments for travel, which could reduce congestion and delays caused by buses having to stop for passengers to board and pay.

‘Real-time information for bus users is vital and it cannot come too soon,’ added Ladyman. ‘If you are living in a rural area you should be able to find the information on a pager or a mobile phone rather than wait for hours in the freezing cold.’

Real-time travel information could also help reduce traffic jams by helping car drivers modify their travel plans mid-journey, says Ladyman.

‘Maybe there’s been an accident on the road ahead and the most efficient route when you started off is no longer the best way. That’s the sort of information people might pay for,’ he said.

Cars fitted with a global positioning system (GPS) add extra intelligence and take advantage of mobile technology to send back travel information to journey planners, such as the AA and the RAC.

‘Maybe there’s a two-way street here,’ said Ladyman. ‘If you have information about traffic when you are in your car then that information could be passed back. You could have vehicles detecting and beaming back information about traffic congestion.’

But a technical glitch on the RAC’s route finding service last month demonstrates that technology needs to mature further before it can be totally relied on.

Drivers searching the RAC site for the best route from Nottingham to Bideford in Devon were directed on a two-day 1,070 mile journey via the Republic of Ireland and France.

‘Nobody knows what technology is going to deliver in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time, but we know what we would like to develop,’ said Ladyman.

‘Technology is making journeys easier and safer and less congested.’

GPS to consign waiting for buses to history

By Tom Young

The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) has increased the reliability of bus timetable information in the city by 94 per cent using satellite-based global positioning systems (GPS).

GMPTE is working with bus companies Stagecoach, First and Bluebird to install the technology on its Metroshuttle free city centre bus services, which carry more than 21,000 passengers a week.

The executive has worked with mobile phone operator Orange to develop the
real-time passenger information (RTPI) system, which uses GPS technology to track a black box installed on each bus to the nearest few metres. The black boxes, provided by IT supplier Infocell, automatically activate when a bus engine is switched on, and start collecting data.

If the bus is behind or ahead of schedule, this information is relayed to a central
server using the Orange general packet radio service (GPRS) network, and on to the public via digital displays fitted at all bus stops.

‘We now know where 500 buses in Manchester are at any one time. This
technology can also tell us where buses are being delayed, so we can eliminate the cause of delay faster,’ said Bill Tyson, chairman and managing director of the GMPTE transport management group.

Previously, timetables were calculated on the average speed taken to travel between destinations.

But better information from the new system is helping to reduce the bunching of buses, and communicates delays that may be caused by bad weather conditions.

Bus depot managers can also make more informed decisions about how they deploy resources. GMPTE is now looking at how it can expand the service to provide information to passengers via mobile phones.

‘This opens up a new range of services for passengers. They can receive information on how long they have to wait before they even get to the bus stop,’ said Tyson.

The Scottish executive has also opted to use GPRS for a Scottish RTPI system.