Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

The Highways Agency's Traffic Control Centre Project

The National Traffic Management and Information System for the 21st Century

• Foreword
• Introduction
• The Traffic Control Centre Project
• Tcc Project Objectives
• Project Procurement
• Services to be Delivered
• The Operational Partners
• Building of Operational Partnerships
• Project Implementation
• What the Project will Deliver
• The Next Steps
• Further Information

Foreword

The Government's Integrated Transport Strategy sets out a new approach to national transport policy, including innovative thinking on integrating transport with many other elements of Government policy. Modern technology offers the potential for travellers to plan their journeys with the benefit of up-to-the-minute and relevant information on the actual service conditions available, covering all roads and public transport alternatives.

To this end the Highways Agency is commissioning the innovative Traffic Control Centre (TCC) Project, which is a key element of the Government's Transport 2010 Ten Year Plan for developing and modernising the transport system in England.

The TCC Project will bring about a major improvement in the traffic management and operation of the national strategic road network. Road users will benefit from much improved information on traffic conditions, to be made available through the TCC providing up-to-the-minute traffic monitoring, data co-ordination and information dissemination services. It will provide significant benefits to the travelling public, as well as to organisations such as the police, local highway authorities, other transport network operators and the media.

We aim to provide a new transport system that will bring together the public and private sectors in a partnership that will benefit everyone. The Agency's TCC Project demonstrates this partnership approach.

I look forward to the successful implementation of the TCC Project and to the benefits it will bring to motorists using England's motorways and other strategic roads, and to the travelling public generally.

 

Lord Whitty
Minister for Transport and the Environment

Introduction

Modernising Government White Paper - March 1999

"We will use new technology to meet the needs of citizens and business, and not trail behind technological developments"

Information technology is changing our lives: the way we work, the way we do business, the way we communicate with each other, how we spend our time. New technology offers opportunities and choice. It can give us access to services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will make our lives easier. Government intends to be at the forefront of these developments, using them to give effect to the vision in the Modernising Government White Paper.

Introduction

The Highways Agency has a key role in the delivery of the Government's Ten Year Plan for Transport. About 7% of the Strategic Road Network currently suffers traffic congestion and with future sustained growth in the economy, demand for travel on our network is expected to grow by 29% over the next ten years. Against the trend, we are charged with helping to reduce congestion and improving the reliability and safety of travel. Last autumn we published the Agency's strategic document Strategic Roads 2010 which sets out the Agency's response to the Government's Ten Year Plan.

The Agency's strategy for achieving the Ten Year Plan objectives places particular emphasis on harnessing new technology to improve the monitoring of road network conditions and to increase the availability of information to travellers.

The Agency has already made significant investment in systems to warn drivers of hazards. The TCC Project will build upon these activities to develop the technology that allows for more effective management of traffic on the strategic road network. Through the TCC Project, the Agency is seeking to extend the benefits of information technology investment to help improve the reliability of long-distance journeys.

This brochure marks the satisfactory conclusion of the procurement phase for TCC and launches the implementation of the project. Much needs to be done over the next two years so that we can achieve the target of delivering TCC services in 2003. During implementation, the successful TCC Company faces a stiff challenge to establish the infrastructure and systems for this national facility. In parallel with this construction activity, the Agency intends to forge effective partnerships with the police, local highway authorities and the private sector interests. By working together the Agency and its partners take full advantage of potential benefits offered by the TCC Project.

What We Do

The Highways Agency, part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions maintains, operates and improves England's trunk road and motorway network (the strategic road network). This brochure is one of a series outlining the Agency's strategic plans, which paves the way for the developing of network operations and the delivery of the 10-year plan. Others brochures are available from the address in the Further Information Section at the end of this brochure.

The Traffic Control Centre Project

Strategic Road Network

The strategic road network means the trunk roads currently operated by the Highways Agency. It comprises most motorways and the more important 'A' road and is the backbone of our transport system, catering for fast, long distance journeys. Although it currently comprises less than 4% of the English road network (10,500km out of a total of 284,000km) it carries 34% of all traffic and 67% of freight. It is also the safest road network in Europe.

The TCC Company will operate over the nationally important parts of this network, identified as the core network in England, which is set out in the Government's White Paper on the Future of Transport.

The Traffic Control Centre Project

Download map (2.2MB PDF)

The TCC Project will introduce, for the first time, coordinated up-to-the-minute information on the majority of the strategic road network.

A private company, known as the TCC Company, will operate this service in partnership with the Agency. The TCC Company will use existing and new traffic monitoring and information systems, working together with organisations such as the police, local highway authorities and other transport operators to provide a coordinated information service to travellers.

The TCC Project will focus on journeys made on the nationally important parts of the strategic road network. It is planned that the information gathered will be integrated with information collected from other Government initiatives looking at other transport modes (e.g., train, bus, air).

The TCC Project will see the establishment of a National Control Centre in the Midlands region to manage long-distance traffic movements on the majority of the strategic road network

TCC Project Objectives

Transport 2010: Smarter Network Management - Motorways of the Future

"The next ten years will see increasing use of new technology by the Highways Agency to improve real-time management of traffic on the strategic road network."

"Within the next ten years "electronic motorways" will include extensive new roadside monitoring and communications equipment linked to variable message signs and ultimately to in-car computers, providing both traffic network authorities and drivers with up-to-date information about traffic levels, road conditions and incidents."

TCC Project Objectives

The Midlands Driver Information System

The Agency already has several years of practical experience in the development and delivery of traffic management services through the implementation and operation of the Midlands Driver Information System (MDIS).

MDIS provides an extensive network of monitoring systems, including cameras and in-road loop sensors to gain an accurate picture of conditions on the strategic road network between the M25 and the Midlands region. The system was developed by the Agency and is operated by the police. In the event of a major incident the system provides information and advice to drivers through a series of variable message signs located at key route decision points.

Studies carried out by the Agency show that roadworks, accidents, breakdowns and other incidents are responsible for approximately 35% of congestion on the Agency's network. During such disruptions, alternative strategic routes typically have sufficient capacity to accommodate some additional traffic, thus providing the opportunity to minimise the effects of these incidents on travel times. Studies have also shown that a significant proportion of drivers would change their time or mode of travel if they were able to receive advance warning of likely delays before they started their journeys. The TCC Project focuses on providing high quality up-to-the-minute information to travellers to allow them to make more informed travel choices and to reduce the effect of disruptions.

By providing the right information where and when it is needed, the TCC Project aims to:

• Improve journey time reliability
• Reduce disruption caused by major incidents
• Provide alternative route advice to minimise the effect of congestion and incidents
• Minimise delays due to roadworks
• Influence road users' decisions before they set out on a journey about route, time and means of travel

Project Procurement

The Private Finance Initiative for Road Network Development

The Agency has considerable experience in using Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) for the development of parts of the strategic road network. Examples of Highways Agency PFI projects are:

• The M1/A1 Link road near Leeds, which is Britain's largest privately financed motorway project. Under its concession the project management team operates and maintains the road on behalf of the Agency.
• The A13 Thames Gateway, to improve east-west access to the Docklands, Lower Lea Valley and other parts of East London. The contract consists of the operation and maintenance of 13 miles of road.

Project Procurement

The implementation of the Midlands Driver Information System (MDIS) indicated to the Agency the potential benefits of managing traffic and providing traffic information on a national scale. However, this raised the important question of who should be responsible for carrying out these services. The Agency recognised that a suitable service provider would need considerable expertise in traffic management and information services as well as being able to work effectively with the police and local highway authorities and others involved in the management of traffic. It was also essential to ensure that the service provider would offer best value for money for the Agency and for the public.

The TCC Project will require fresh, innovative thinking to successfully address the complex issues involved in managing traffic on the strategic road network. The Agency is keen to draw upon the technical and management skills of the private sector to deliver this project. In order to achieve this, the Agency is committed to procuring the TCC as a Private Finance Initiative project within the overall context of the Government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy. Under the PPP approach the responsibility for, and many of the risks associated with delivery of the TCC services, are transferred to the private sector. It is anticipated the private sector will use their skills and build upon their experience to produce a TCC that will meet the Agency's requirements in a more cost-effective and flexible way than could otherwise be achieved.

The Agency carefully considered the way in which its objectives for the service could be achieved. It was decided that the most appropriate method would be to define a quality of service by setting performance targets. The service provider would be allowed, within certain defined limits, to decide how best to carry out the required services in order to meet the performance criteria set by the Agency.

The Agency considers it important that the service provider (the TCC Company) is responsive to the needs of its customers. To achieve this, the TCC Company will be paid according to the quality of the service outputs. The TCC Project will also provide the opportunity for the TCC Company to generate additional revenue by providing up-to-the-minute traffic information to all interested organisations on a non-discriminatory commercial basis. Through this commercial opportunity the TCC Company will support the development of a diverse market for value added transport and driver information services.

Services to be Delivered

View tree structure of services

The TCC Company will be required to deliver a range of services designed to achieve the project objectives. Each service is specified to deliver a particular aspect of high-quality strategic traffic management by ensuring that:

• It contributes to the overall goals of the project
• Service quality can be influenced by the actions of the TCC Company
• Quantitative measures exist for performance and that these are related to payment for the services that TCC Company provide

The individual services are arranged in five distinct categories:

• Collection of Network and Traffic Information - decision support information including a database of road network characteristics, information about incidents and other events (roadworks, accidents, etc), traffic flow and journey times, and weather conditions information
• Response to Events - to develop response plans to support the determination of the appropriate information to be provided during incidents; to implement these plans during incident conditions; and to analyse previously implemented plans on the basis of past experience
• Public Information Services - the means by which the TCC Company will provide information to the public, including installing variable message signs at key locations on the road network; providing information to media organisations; providing an internet site and an interactive telephone service
• Network Operations Support - related to the TCC Company's obligations to provide information and take actions that will improve the ability of other organisations to perform their duties in managing the transport network
• Management Services - e.g. operation of the control centre, and administering the Travel Information Highway (an internet-based service that enables the exchange of information between transport organisations)

The combined effect of these individual services will result in an improvement in journey time reliability and reduced levels of congestion caused by incidents.

The Operational Partners

Technology for Travel Information Exchange

The TCC Company will implement an internet-based Travel Information Highway (TIH) to provide a market for traffic information and data and allow open exchange of data on the transport network. Users will form a Travel Information Community, including members from the Police Service, local highway authorities, public transport operators (e.g. rail, bus), information service providers and the media.

Value-Added Service Providers (VASPs) will be able to obtain data via the TIH and process it ("add value") to make it more accessible to users, with the opportunity to provide additional or enhanced services (e.g. route planning). They will also support a wide range of delivery mechanisms including the world wide web, mobile phones, WAP and Digital Audio Broadcasting

The Operational Partners

The Agency recognises that in order to deliver quality information services, there has to be effective coordination between transport organisations at both the national and local level. The TCC Project has therefore been planned to take account of a number of key stakeholders that the TCC Company will be tasked with establishing operating partnerships.

Highways Agency

The Agency will provide guidance to the TCC Company to ensure traffic management decisions and advice given to travellers are consistent with the Agency's strategy for managing and maintaining the strategic road network. The Agency will closely monitor the performance of the TCC Company to ensure a high quality and efficiently operated service.

Police Service

A network of local police control offices is responsible for safety and incident management on England's road. The TCC Company will work in close cooperation with the police to agree procedures with each police control office on how to obtain information about the location and nature of incidents. The Police Service will retain responsibility for traffic management and safety measures in the immediate vicinity of an incident on the strategic road network; the TCC Company will support the Police Service and provide information and re-routing advice to drivers to minimise disruption to long-distance journeys.

Local Highway Authorities

Local highway authorities are responsible for managing the non-strategic road network (local and regionally important roads) in their areas. The TCC Company will work closely with them to determine how traffic is managed at the boundary between local and national roads. Given that the majority of journeys begin and end on local roads, it will be important for the TCC Company to work together with local highway authorities to provide a "seamless" service to road users.

Other Highway Authorities and Network Operators

Some nationally important routes include roads that are the responsibility of other organisations (e.g. Dartford River Crossing, Civil Aviation Authority, Dover Port Authority). The TCC Company will establish relationships with these organisations for the exchange of traffic condition information and agreement of traffic management strategies. Cross-border interfaces will also be established with similar projects in Wales and Scotland.

Media and Information Service Providers

Media (radio, TV) and information 'Value-Added' Service Providers (VASPs) (e.g. firms providing services over the Internet, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) or dedicated in-car devices such as RDS-TMC)[Radio Data System - Traffic Message Channel] deliver specialised information, either for a fee or as part of a wider commercial service. The TCC Company will provide up-to-the-minute information to these organisations and will establish a Travel Information Highway (TIH) to allow all operational partners to exchange information quickly and easily to each other and to VASPs. The TIH will allow for the full exchange of information of a known quality between participating organisations. All VASPs requiring information from the TCC Company will have an equal opportunity to participate. As part of its requirement to provide public information services, the TCC Company will supply some non value-added information free-of-charge to the media.

Building of Operational Partnerships

The Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee

A newly-established Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee (TOCC) brings together representatives from local highway authorities across the country to provide the opportunity to raise issues arising during the implementation and operation of the TCC. The committee will include representation from the Agency and the TCC Company as well as Transport for London, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and other network operators as required.

"The Highways Agency wants the Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee to provide a national forum to keep under review the roll-out of TCC operations and make recommendations on how they can best be integrated with local highway authority traffic operations."

Richard Thorndike,
Highways Agency Head of Network Customer Services

Building of Operational Partnerships

A key task for the TCC Company is to ensure agreements are in place with all organisations expected to influence, or be influenced by TCC operations. TCC implementation requires careful pre-planning to ensure:

• All traffic and travel organisations are aware of the plans for implementation of the project, their role in the project and how it will support their existing operations
• All affected or interested organisations become fully involved in the development process, with opportunities for them to provide feedback to the TCC Company
• The public are made aware of what will happen and when, and of the benefits to their travel choices that the project will bring

A wide range of activities is being carried out to prepare the way for implementation and operation of the TCC. Consultations have been held with all interested organisations, including Agency staff, the Police Service, local highway authorities, other network operators and the travelling public.

The National Guidance Framework

The principles governing operation of the TCC will be defined by two separate National Guidance Framework (NGF) agreements, one with the Police Service and the other with the Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee (representing local highway authorities). The Agency and the TCC Company will agree these principles with the Association of Chief Police Officers and the Traffic Operations Coordinating Committee respectively. The NGFs will provide guidelines and a starting point for the detailed local agreements needed to define operations between the TCC Company and each respective local police force and local highway authority.

Detailed Local Operating Agreements

The over-arching principles as defined in the NGFs will remain the same nationally, but variations in traffic operations will exist from one local area to another. To accommodate this, Detailed Local Operating Agreements (DLOAs) will be drafted with each local organisation.

Timing of the NGF and DLOAs

Project Implementation

Transport Direct

The Government proposes to develop an integrated national transport system that delivers a high quality, effective service to the public. Transport Direct is a key part of this strategy whereby transport operators, local authorities and technology providers will be brought together to provide a comprehensive national public transport service. Transport Direct will help people to plan their journeys and to compare journey routes and prices. By 2003 it is expected to include:

• Up-to-the-minute information on train and many local bus services
• Multi-modal travel information on the internet covering road journeys and public transport
• Booking of long-distance multi-modal journeys on the internet

The TCC Project will integrate closely with those services developed under Transport Direct by providing up-to-the-minute information about the strategic road network, thereby allowing travellers a wider choice of journey options and the opportunity to make more informed decisions about all aspects of their journeys.

Project Implementation

Considerable activity will take place to prepare for delivery of the TCC service. The key activities will include:

• Construction of a new national Traffic Control Centre building
• Implementation of a national up-to-the-minute traffic monitoring network, supported by a computer system and communications to link to a wide range of existing traffic monitoring and information systems

Development of national and local agreements with organisations such as the Police Service and local highway authorities to establish operating procedures The Traffic Control Centre will utilise a range of existing and new technologies to obtain a clear picture of traffic conditions and supply accurate, timely travel information. This includes:

• In-road loop sensors across the road network.
• Cameras at strategic locations
• A network of roadside detectors to collect information with which to calculate reliable and up-to-date journey times over selected sections of the strategic road network
• Variable message signs located at key decision points along the network to inform motorists and, where possible, allow them to alter their journey plans

The Acency operates a dedicated telecommunications system known as the National Motorway Communications System (NMCS). The TCC will include a computer system linked to the NMCS.

 

 

What the Project will Deliver

What the Project Will Deliver

Data collected and coordinated by the TCC Company can be provided to a wide range of organisations and individuals.

For the Road User

• Roadside information at key decision points for drivers, using variable message signs
• Data services to allow media organisations to provide constantly updated information in the home, office or on-route through local and national radio and television travel bulletins
• Detailed up-to-the-minute travel information on the internet

For the Police Service

• Operational support for traffic management and safety in the immediate vicinity of an incident
• Support in providing information on traffic conditions to the media

For the Local Highway Authority

• Constantly updated information on strategic road network conditions via the TIH
• Improved information about traffic conditions on the local road network alongside the strategic road network

For the Media and Information Service Providers

• High-quality travel information to provide to other organisations and directly to the public
• The opportunity, through the TIH, to receive and provide travel information on a commercial basis from a wide range of participating information suppliers

For the Highways Agency

• A national up-to-the-minute traffic monitoring and travel information service
• Statistical information through a series of online and printed reports, thus enabling more effective road network services for long-term transport planning and helping to establish future investment priorities
• Access to up-to-the-minute information for Agency staff via an intranet
• Information on road network conditions to assist the Agency with planning roadworks and the movement of abnormal loads

The Next Steps

The following documents referenced in this brochure are available online:

• Modernising Government White Paper www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/moderngov/whtpaper
• Transport 2010: The Ten Year Plan http://www.dft.gov.uk/
• Strategic Roads 2010 Strategic Roads 2010

The Next Steps

Implementation Timescales

The Agency recognises that expectations for the success of the TCC Project will be high and has consequently provided significant resources to ensure the smooth running of the project according to the defined schedule.

The key project milestones are:

• Completion of Installation of the Traffic Control Centre, equipment and infrastructure
• Commencement of services to travel organisations and to the public

Further Information

The Highways Agency welcomes feedback on the TCC Project. If you have any comments or wish to raise any matters associated with this document, please contact:

The Highways Agency Information Line
Tel. 0300 123 5000