Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Environment

16 July 2002

Project Appraisal: Intelligent Transport Systems - Deployment of New Facilities

Report of the County Surveyor

Item 8

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE MEMBER - ENVIRONMENT

PROJECT APPRAISAL

PROJECT:

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS - DEPLOYMENT OF NEW FACILITIES

COMMENCEMENT DATE:

JULY 2002

COMPLETION DATE:

MARCH 2003

PLANNED YEAR OF START IN ACCORDANCE WITH CAPITAL PROGRAMME: 2002/03

.

FINANCE (Client Department, Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services [Estates Practice] and County Treasurer)

Current

Capital

Estimate

Programme

(at outturn

(at outturn

prices)

prices)

Capital Expenditure

£'000

£'000

Land to be purchased

Construction

360

360

Fees

30

30

390

390

Less developers/

other contributions

390

390

Financial provision for total scheme

Total Cost

1.

From Committees own resources

(a) Capital programme (as above)

390

(b) Other

390

2.

From other resources

(a)

(b)

(c)

TOTAL

390

Value of land for this project in HCC ownership £

Variations from capital programme

Revenue implications

£'000

% variation

to Committee's

budget

Net current expenditure

71

0.096

Capital charges

62

0.067

TOTAL net expenditure

133

0.163

2.

STATEMENT OF NEED/JUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT

(Client Department)

Introduction

On 14 May 2002 the Executive Member for Environment approved an additional £500,000 within the 2002/03 spending plan for county-wide implementation of ITS applications. This project appraisal details a series of applications for installation which will increase the scope and coverage of these facilities within Hampshire.

Background

The use of ITS to make best use of the transport network has been established for a number of years. Traffic control and traffic and travel information is seen as one element for the delivery of the County Council's transport policies. As a result the Traffic and Travel Information Centre (TTIC) has been established in Winchester and a number of facilities have already been deployed through a combination of funding through allocations made within the Area Strategy Programmes and external funding. However, these programmes are insufficient in most cases to allow the introduction of ITS in a comprehensive way. The £500,000 in the Capital Programme for 2002/03 will enable a more comprehensive traffic and travel information service to be delivered over a wider geographic area within Hampshire.

The details of the individual elements of the first phase of these facilities for which approval is being sought are:

CCTV - £250,000

(i) CCTV is a key element of the monitoring of the highway network to enable an effective traffic and travel information service to travellers. Currently there are 51 cameras available to the TTIC operators. This proposal will increase the numbers of CCTV cameras available through new installations and also linkages to some of the existing CCTV control rooms in the district councils in Hampshire. CCTV images are already available for Winchester and further linkages are proposed Havant, Gosport and Fareham, New Forest and Portsmouth. Although these are generally town centre security systems, discussions with the district councils have identified a number of cameras which view sections of the local highway network of strategic interest to the County Council. Agreement has been reached with those authorities for the Hampshire TTIC to take pictures only from their systems in accordance with mutually agreed guidelines set down in a formal Code of Practice compliant with the Data Protection Act. The agreements provide the County Council with a very cost effective solution to bringing pictures in from around the county. Links will be established with Fareham, Gosport and Havant Borough Councils, New Forest and/or Hart District Councils and Portsmouth City Council, and will give access to an additional 50 camera locations, comprising:

19 from Fareham and Gosport Monitoring Centre;

7 from Havant Monitoring Centre;

9 from New Forest Monitoring Centre; and

5 from Portsmouth UTC Control Room.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) System - £100,000

(ii) Being developed as part of the MIRACLES project in Winchester an ANPR system utilising cameras will automatically calculate journey times between defined points on a route or between urban or inter-urban areas in real-time, eg current journey time from Winchester city boundary to city centre. The information can then be relayed to the travelling public via roadside signs (VMS), local radio travel news bulletins, ROMANSE On-Line, etc. Strategically placed camera cordons will also provide transport planners with vital information about traffic flow, ie origin and destination data, 'desire lines', etc. (NB: the system will use only part of a vehicle registration number when seeking a match and once the match has been made will not store the number. It will not be used in an enforcement role and no links to law enforcement agencies are proposed. The system will not permit the identification of vehicle occupants.)

Bus Departure Information System (BDIS) - £40,000

(iii) This element of the proposal will provide the necessary communications facilities and civil engineering works to install the BDIS systems into Romsey, Fareham, Havant and Basingstoke bus stations to supplement the capital allocation already agreed for the provision of the equipment displays, etc.

3.

ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL (Client Department)

National/County network and policies

The proposals are consistent with the County Council's transportation strategy of using network management tools to utilise the full potential of the existing transport infrastructure.

Details of scheme and design standards

All scheme details will comply with all relevant United Kingdom/European standards together with the County Council's standards as applicable.

Environmental impact

BDIS: Some externally-mounted cable trunking (for electricity or telecommunications cables) and junction boxes.

CCTV: New camera installations comprise a camera mounted on a 10 metre or 12 metre high galvanised steel column. The column is mounted on a concrete base. A small cabinet housing the electricity supply and telecommunications equipment will be sited close to the column.

ANPR: Camera installations similar to above or may be mounted in adapted street furniture, eg traffic signal head.

Land requirements

No land acquisition required. All works to be confined within existing public highway limits.

Statutory procedures

None.

Public consultation

None undertaken. Planning consent is not required in most cases but will be sought as and when necessary, eg with respect to radio masts.

Facilities for the disabled

Not applicable.

Maintenance implications

There will be minimal revenue implications of this proposal and they will be taken into account in the setting of the annual base budget. ITS equipment is designed to operate satisfactorily over a period of 10-15 years with only routine maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer. Beyond this period equipment may require refurbishment or replacement. In addition they consume electricity and require connection to an appropriate telecommunication system, incurring call charges and rental.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The provisions of this Act have no impact on this proposal.

Sustainability

Installation of the systems described in this project appraisal support the County Council's policies to make best use of the existing transport network and ensure a sustainable transport facility for future generations of people in Hampshire.

4.

ROAD IMPROVEMENT - ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED

(Client Department)

Not applicable.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1.

Published works.

2.

Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE

LOCATION

Various files

County Surveyor's Department

ITS Group

Monument House