UK moves to disclose road data to app makers

The UK is proposing to share road network data, including roadworks, with makers of mobile apps to warn drivers of potential congestion months in advance. The information for navigational apps powered by artificial intelligence would warn of planned changes to the road network, including work zone arrangements, which would enhance worker safety. Tech firms could soon get access to the necessary data thanks to a UK government review of legislation around Traffic Regulation Orders. The orders behind res
August 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The review of Traffic Regulation Orders will support the government’s Future of Mobility Grand Challenge (photo courtesy of the UK government)
The UK is proposing to share road network data, including roadworks, with makers of mobile apps to warn drivers of potential congestion months in advance.


The information for navigational apps powered by artificial intelligence would warn of planned changes to the road network, including work zone arrangements, which would enhance worker safety.

Tech firms could soon get access to the necessary data thanks to a UK government review of legislation around Traffic Regulation Orders. The orders behind restrictions on the road network which allow for temporary roadworks or permanent changes to the road.

The announcement will help open up data, reducing congestion, pollution and frustration for road users, according to a statement by George Freeman, UK Minister for Future Transport.

“Working with organisations including local authorities and the connected and automated vehicle sector, the department will look at introducing legislation to make it easier to access data around the predicted 50,000 yearly road closures building on the government’s commitment to make travelling cleaner and greener, safer, easier and more reliable,” he said.

He said the review of the orders will support the government’s Future of Mobility Grand Challenge by considering whether current legislation is fit to maximise the potential of future technologies.

The government also noted that opening up Traffic Regulation Orders data could help with route planning systems for self-driving vehicles, “cementing the UK’s position as a world leader in developing self-driving vehicle technology”.

Highway & Network Management

Related Content

  • Tackling the UK's traffic congestion
    February 28, 2012
    The biggest problem on UK roads is congestion, and there is no shortage of ideas as to how it should be tackled. Patrick Smith reports. Congestion (and how to relieve it), along with safety, are among the top priorities facing those responsible for looking after the UK's roads. Road pricing, car-share lanes, greener vehicle initiatives and alternative methods of transport such as buses, trams and rail are all part of the approach, but prior to the current economic climate the nation's love affair with the c
    Read More
  • Carry on Movin’ On - Michelin’s mobility event
    October 15, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just
    Read More
  • Connected vehicles: implications for road networks and mobility
    May 15, 2019
    Mobility services are expected to undergo spectacular changes within the next two decades with the introduction and widespread use of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology. However, the transition phase from human driving to self-driving will be gradual, requiring incremental interventions on the physical and digital road network to allow it to cope with mixed vehicular traffic. Cities such as Dubai have embraced the challenge by setting a target to reach 25% driverless trips by 2030 as part o
    Read More
  • TISPOL 2017: Europe’s road safety record suffers as austerity bites hard
    December 21, 2017
    Police budgets are being slashed, staff numbers are falling and Europe’s long-term trend towards ever-fewer road deaths has ground to a halt. Does Europe’s road network face a far more dangerous future? Geoff Hadwick reports from TISPOL 2017 in Manchester, UK. Europe’s road safety record is under threat. Lower and lower funding levels have become a very serious, and very worrying, problem for the EU’s traffic police bosses. They know that they must find new ways to focus road users on changing their beha
    Read More

Highlighted Content