Skip to main content

PIPS helps produce new industry standard for ANPR systems

PIPS Technology has announced it has been instrumental in drafting a new industry standard UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) interface for ANPR systems to overcome difficulties for technology from different systems being able to communicate with each other. For example, PIPS JTMS (Journey Time Measurement System) may not communicate all data to a traffic management system supplied by a third party, because they are designed and built in differing ways, using dissimilar software by different compan
May 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
202 Pips Technology has announced it has been instrumental in drafting a new industry standard UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) interface for ANPR systems to overcome difficulties for technology from different systems being able to communicate with each other. For example, PIPS JTMS (Journey Time Measurement System) may not communicate all data to a traffic management system supplied by a third party, because they are designed and built in differing ways, using dissimilar software by different companies.

PIPS says it was involved in a series of discussions with the industry body, UTMC, who wanted to create a suite of open standards to allow all traffic technologies to communicate with each other, so PIPS Software Engineers drafted the UTMC interface for ANPR communications. That draft has since been approved by other companies within the industry and it is now available as a software option on PIPS P382 SpikeHD and PIPS P392 Spikelet ANPR cameras.

Since the interface has been completed, PIPS has supplied more than 40 of its UTMC Spikelet cameras to the NRA (National Roads Authority), in Ireland, for a project in conjunction with ITS Road Services and their sub-contractors, Electro Automation, one of PIPS preferred partners. This project is one of the first, if not the first, UTMC compliant JTMS that has been installed in the UK & Ireland.

The new UTMC interface on PIPS Spikelet cameras means the data from the cameras can be used with PIPS JTMS, or any UTMC compliant JTMS. This then communicates travel time estimates via an XML Web interface to the NRA’s Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), which provides traffic information back to motorists using variable message signs (VMS) and the NRA’s traffic information web site (www.nratraffic.ie).

PIPS Technology has recently successfully won a second contract to extend the system further with another 40+ cameras through Electro Automation and ITS Road Services for the NRA.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • SRL’s outta sight VMS
    June 10, 2025


    England’s National Highways agency is using a variable message sign(VMS)  to display non-regulatory messages to indicate that maintenance teams may be out of sight.

    The is the first time that such messages have been displayed in an effort to better communicate to drivers that ahead lay obstacles, diversions road works. The system from SRL Traffic Systems is displaying wording not usually used, including ‘Working even out of view’, to provide an awareness of operations not within eyesight of a driver or outside of the public eye.

  • Swarco announces $40 million contract in Saudi Arabia
    April 25, 2012
    It's all smiles at Swarco's stand at Gulf Traffic which opened today because the company has announced it has been awarded the second phase of the Automated Traffic Administering & Monitoring (ATAM) project, a Saudi Arabian programme for the cities of Riyadh and Qaseem.
  • Swarco launches Zephyr software for traffic sign control
    November 15, 2017
    Swarco has launched Zephyr, a cloud-based software package to provide local authorities with total control over traffic sign assets and strategy. Swarco said that Zephyr allows authorities full flexibility over their assets, including variable message signs and trailer VMS, car parking signs, vehicle-activated signs and school warning signs. A web-based interface enables users to edit message and pictogram displays at the touch of a button, as well as upload new text and graphics as required, explained Andr
  • Nedap Identification Systems latest cameras for ANPR
    May 22, 2019
    Dutch identification technology company Nedap has launched two more cameras for its automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) platform. The advanced ANPR Lumo can be applied in challenging vehicular access control applications, including in regions with license plates that include different font formats. The ANPR Access V2 is the successor of Nedap’s ANPR Access, offering better performance while being fully compatible with existing installations, says the company. Both new cameras easily integrate