Highways England has awarded the £41.85m National Traffic Information Service (NTIS) contract to Sopra Steria for providing continuous real-time traffic information about England’s busiest roads.

Services offered by Sopra Steria are expected to help Highways England operations and emergency services teams to keep traffic moving and respond to incidents as efficiently as possible.

Highways England Operations and Performance team leader Meryl Roberts said: “It is very important that drivers have the right information to help them to make choices about their journeys and reduce congestion.

“Sopra Steria will develop the already excellent service for everyone who uses our roads.”

Sopra Steria’s traffic information services are expected to help motorists plan their journeys, avoid delays and stay safe on England’s motorways and major A roads.

This can be done by providing the latest information to the journey-planning website, as well as on the road network’s electronic message signs.

The five-year contract awarded to Sopra Steria also has an extension option for another two years.

The traffic information service is said to be part of Highways England’s customer service strategy to provide better information to road users.

Sopra Steria Government Sector managing director Adrian Fieldhouse said: “We’re delighted to be working with Highways England on the development of the National Traffic Information Service, leveraging our road traffic management and digital transformation experience from London, Singapore and around the globe to tackle some of today’s biggest infrastructure challenges, including pollution, road safety and congestion.”

Last August, Highways England unveiled details for a £27.4bn ($35.9bn) investment in the UK’s strategic road network.

Projects worth £14bn ($18.3bn) aim to improve the quality, capacity and safety of the country’s motorways and major A roads.

Approximately £11bn ($14.4bn) will be invested towards repairing and replacing the UK’s road network.