Skip to main content

Simulation Systems wins England traffic signal management upgrade

Highways England has awarded a contract to deliver a central traffic signal control and management system for south-east England to Simulation Systems Limited (SSL) Central to the contract, for England’s motorway and major A-roads, will be a Siemens Stratos system which is designed to be the UK’s first cloud-hosted, fully integrated traffic control and management solution. The project will also include Hosted-SCOOT, a real time UTC and adaptive traffic control system. It is already used to manage and
June 21, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
A single hosted solution for south-east England
Highways England has awarded a contract to deliver a central traffic signal control and management system for south-east England to Simulation Systems Limited (SSL)

Central to the contract, for England’s motorway and major A-roads, will be a 1134 Siemens Stratos system which is designed to be the UK’s first cloud-hosted, fully integrated traffic control and management solution.

The project will also include Hosted-SCOOT, a real time UTC and adaptive traffic control system. It is already used to manage and co-ordinate traffic control for 76 UK authorities, including the control of many 8100 Highways England junctions.

The Siemens Stratos system will replace the existing UTC control system for London’s orbital motorway, the M25. It will bring the control of sites in central southern England and the south-east under the control of the new system. There will be expansion capacity for other regional areas.

Gary Cox, product sales manager for Simulation Systems urban systems area, said the functionality offered by PC SCOOT has been migrated into Stratos to offer the module known as Hosted-SCOOT. “This allows UTC and SCOOT-controlled junctions to be quickly migrated to Stratos control where the sites already have UG405 outstations and IP communications in place,” he said.

SSL, based near Bristol in south-west England, has already started delivery of a traffic signals module to Highways England. When linked to the latest generation of IP outstations, it will offer on a single platform the functionality of two previously offered but separate systems.

This provides Highways England with a single hosted solution for both real-time control and monitoring. The hosted system will be accessed through secure internet-based connections providing the flexibility to operate the system from many locations by many operators.

SSL said that older sites can be easily upgraded by means of installing new UG405-compliant outstations and moving to IP communications. This can be done by either upgrading the existing analogue leased line to broadband or by providing easily deployed 3G technology.

A planned move to IP communications as part of this project implementation will allow Highways England to avoid any potential interruptions to future control as a result of withdrawing any analogue communication lines over the next few years. SSL said that Highways England has already made significant progress on this, noted SSL managing director Louis Thompson.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • More satellites, more signals
    July 20, 2012
    Greater GPS accuracy suggests closer tolerances for surveying and machine control functions What happens in the future for GPS surveying and machine control could depend on satellite choice and signals. Right now there are around 30 satellites in orbit, largely built by the US, but by 2012 that could rise to 120 as Europe, China, India and Russia fully enter the market. A chequered history has faced the European's Galileo system. At long last, the finance appears to be in place and the European Commission a
  • Variable message signs deliver real time travel information
    April 10, 2012
    Variable Message Sign systems are helping ease traffic congestion and keeping drivers better informed on key highways across Europe and the rest of the world. Guy Woodford looks at some of their recent applications By coupling its Intelligent Travel Time System (ITTS) with Bluetooth technology, Alcatel-Lucent is measuring traffic flow in real time and conveying it seamlessly to local authorities in the French city of Vélizy-Villacoublay. The city, a major business enterprise hub 14km south-west of central
  • Eradicating work zone danger
    June 26, 2013
    New safety systems for highway work zones are helping to reduce deaths and injuries in the United States, while much work is being done in Europe to improve work zone safety. Guy Woodford reports. With more road building underway than at any one time in Texas history, the US Lone Star state’s Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is introducing its first highway safety system with queue-warning technology and temporary rumble strips to cut work zone collisions. Debuting along a central Texas stretch of the
  • Topcon’s new Enterprise Solutions workflow management system controls all jobs
    January 6, 2017
    Topcon Positioning Group has released a new workflow management system designed to connect all of a contractor’s sites, data, crews and equipment. Unveiled at Conexpo 2014 this week, Topcon Enterprise Solutions offers constant communication, data sharing, scheduling, updating, support activities and accurate productivity data in real-time, no matter where the job or office is located.