City of Edinburgh Council ITS deployment plan

The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) and tie (then Transport Initiatives Edinburgh) first developed an Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Strategy in 2004. This initial strategy resulted in the award of funds to support the implementation of traffic control and information systems from 2006 to 2008. This included the development of a UTMC system including the implementation of Strategic and Car Parking Guidance VMS, the introduction of an ANPR based Journey Time System and improved digital communications to traffic signals. These systems have made it possible for The City of Edinburgh to monitor and proactively control the transport network, to improve the efficiency of the transport network and promote modal shift in line with the Council's policies. It was considered that the ITS Strategy should be reviewed and revised in the light of developments in the past six years and to prepare an effective Deployment Plan for future years, whilst considering the requirements set out in the Council's 20-Year Vision for Transport document published in 2009. This presentation will discuss the refreshed ITS Deployment plan focussing on the more innovative proposals put forward for the Council to obtain best value from the existing infrastructure whilst harnessing current developments within ITS. In doing so it will cover proposals on enhanced travel information provision and concepts such as decision support tools to actively manage existing roads space. It will also discuss how this could be supported by enhanced communication technology and vehicle to vehicle communications. Other proposals to improve emission levels within the city will be discussed, as well as active monitoring of traffic related pollution levels within sensitive areas. It will conclude on how these improvements could be implemented with ongoing monitoring to highlight where proposals have been effective. It will also cover the expected challenges that are going to be faced in relation to funding and how this may be mitigated.