A new project has been launched which aims to reduce traffic congestion and pollution by using real-time data insights.
Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC) Research and Innovation team, iHub, and Alchera Data Technologies, based in Cambridge, have announced the successful completion of Phase 2 of its New Mobility project.
The overarching goal of the two-phase project was to enable data-driven decisions for transport network management supported by a shared data environment.
In phase one, Alchera undertook a research project with control room users and then merged moving vehicle data from TomTom, a geolocation technology company, with existing under-road vehicle counting sensors to detect abnormal traffic conditions.
This enabled OCC’s transport team to react faster to adverse conditions across the road network.
Future of Mobility Team Leader at OCC’s iHub Ruth Anderson said: “Finding a way to ensure all of Oxfordshire’s transport systems have access to the same data on which to make real-time decision is critical.
“We can’t possibly hope to build intelligent infrastructure if all the systems are using different data.”
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Phase Two built on the earlier achievements and developed a functioning Transport Data Exchange specifically designed for public sector data analysts.
The exchange contains mobility data from Bus Open Data Service (BODS), Analyse Bus Open Data Service (ABODS), local bus companies, traffic sensors, CCTV networks, ANPR cameras and more with a £1 million Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) grant.
Innovation Hub Manager at Oxfordshire County Council Laura Peacock said: “The inclusion of accurate, real-time mobility data will become increasingly important in the operation of advanced transport systems of the future.
“It’s great to see companies like Alchera bringing exciting new technologies that will change the game; their approach has huge potential.”
Alchera’s machine learning algorithms make use of existing city sensors and camera networks, delivering real-time data unmatched in its granularity – and allowing operators to develop innovative dynamic & sustainable smart city offerings.
The systems developed will lead to a prototype system that will be capable of offering transport data to technology development companies and the public.
As well as work to enable connected and autonomous vehicles on our roads, other developments that could emerge from the research are live data apps on transport flow and patterns.
The research involved and the final product will also enable better collaboration within the council on data sharing work on transport.
Co-Founder of Alchera Technologies Anna Jordan said: “When you are trying to deal with complex, congested cities, being able to react to situations in real-time is key.
“Our largest system integration combines thousands of sensor sources and performs hundreds of thousands of measurements every day.
“This represents the only demonstration of absolute, real-time traffic counts and classifications, at city scale, in the UK today.”
This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.
Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1
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