Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Environment

14 January 2003

Project Appraisal: Network Monitoring and Performance
using Floating Vehicle Data (FVD)

Report of the Director of Environment

Item 8

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE MEMBER - ENVIRONMENT

PROJECT APPRAISAL

PROJECT:

NETWORK MONITORING AND PERFORMANCE USING FLOATING VEHICLE DATA (FVD)

COMMENCEMENT DATE:

JANUARY 2003

COMPLETION DATE:

FEBRUARY 2003

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

1.

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

Current

Capital

Estimate

Programme

(at 2002

(at 2002

prices)

prices)

Capital Expenditure

£'000

£'000

Land to be purchased

Construction

61

61

Fees

Less developers/

other contributions

-

-

61

61

Financial provision for total scheme

Total Cost

1.

From Committees own resources

(a) Capital programme (as above)

61

(b) Other

2.

From other resources

(a)

(b)

(c)

TOTAL

61

Value of land for this project in HCC ownership £

Variations from capital programme

Revenue implications

£'000

% variation

to Committee's

budget

Net current expenditure

30

0.040

Capital charges

4

0.004

TOTAL net expenditure

34

0.044

2.

STATEMENT OF NEED/JUSTIFICATION FOR PROJECT

(Client Department)

The use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to provide an effective traffic and travel information service to travellers and network managers has been a key element of the transport strategy for a number of years. The Traffic and Travel Information Centre (TTIC) located in Monument House has a range of systems to provide this service. However, it is an objective of the ITS Deployment Strategy to extend both the range of services and geographic coverage through Hampshire.

The use of Floating Vehicle Data (FVD) through the development of global positioning satellites (GPS) is now available commercially via a company known as ITIS Holdings Plc to provide information on journey times throughout the road network in Hampshire. The system will alert the TTIC operators to abnormal conditions, or if the real-time data is inconsistent with historical patterns and can be disseminated to motorists to inform them of incidents and delays.

The initial application for this system was to provide haulage and coach fleet operators with management information on their vehicles located throughout the United Kingdom. The company is already working with a number of key providers of telematics and traveller information services in the UK including the Automobile Association and leading car manufacturers. The data will also provide information on recurrent congestion and historic information on the road network in Hampshire that can be used for network monitoring and performance which can be included within the annual progress report for submission to the Department for Transport (DfT). This would be the first application of this service within a local authority in the UK and will retain Hampshire's position at the forefront of the development of this type of traveller information service.

The capital and ongoing revenue costs for the County Council to obtain this information through detectors across the whole of the primary network would be very expensive compared to the cost of purchasing this facility from a service provider. This would also apply to collection of data for network monitoring and network performance statistics to input to the annual progress report, etc.

This proposal would provide the data for the primary road network across Hampshire, extending the traffic and travel information service that can be provided from the TTIC.

3.

ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL (Client Department)

National/County Network and Policies

The proposal is consistent with the County Council's transport strategy.

Details of Scheme and Design Standards

FVD is a process and technology for the collecting, analysing and forecasting journey times using speed and location data directly from vehicles fitted with GPS equipment. A large number of vehicles have already been fitted with this equipment in the UK. Information is downloaded from these probe vehicles on a regular basis and, with the current level of fitted vehicles, in excess of over one million positional and speed records per day are collected in the UK.

The proposal will provide a real-time traffic information system (Traffic Alert Generator - TAG) on the highway network conditions in Hampshire and will also alert the TTIC operators to any unusual traffic conditions that may prevail. The TAG system, supplied by ITIS, will provide this control room facility via a specifically designed website accessible only by the County Council, giving the TTIC operators information on network conditions, incidents and delays at different levels (overall County level, sections of road or tabular information) for the road network within Hampshire.

Network performance data would be provided by the supplier in an agreed format, pre-processed into a number of key report formats specified by the County Council, including average speed measurements, delay and congestion information by road or section of road.

All proposal details will comply with the relevant United Kingdom and European standards.

Environmental Impact

The proposal will contribute to the effective and efficient management of the highway network, reducing congestion and emissions.

Land Requirements

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

Statutory Procedures

Not applicable.

Public Consultation

Not applicable.

Local Member's View

Not applicable.

Facilities for the Disabled

None

Maintenance Implications

There will be an ongoing cost of £30,000 per annum for the maintenance of the FVD content provision, hardware and online support services. It is proposed to fund this jointly between the traffic signal maintenance budget and the Local Transport Plan's Annual Progress Rreport monitoring process. The ongoing revenue cost for collecting this data from detectors or number plate readers, including maintenance and communication costs, would greatly exceed this figure.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

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

Sustainability

This proposal will contribute to the County Council's objective of managing the transport network more effectively and efficiently through the provision of traffic and travel information to the travelling public and network managers.

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

Environment Department

ITS Group

Monument House