Manchester

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has placed a tender for a £15m contract to develop an intelligent transport system, which can ultimately lead to the efficient management of traffic flow on roads in Greater Manchester in the UK.

The Dynamic Road Network Efficiency and Travel Information System Solution, which will be developed over a period of six years, will be designed to facilitate the delivery of initiatives to improve the management of transport in Greater Manchester.

The solution will offer real-time updates on road conditions, including travel hotspots, and provide management systems and a control platform.

The contract includes the active traffic management of the highway network, traffic signal priority measures (initially for the local bus network), operational control platform, and service performance management systems.

The multi-modal passenger information system will integrate data from bus, rail, tram and highway services, among others.

Data will be sourced from public transport information, emergency services, road activities data CCTV and ANPR (automatic number plate recognition), passive sensors, event data, automatic traffic counter data, car park data and transport cost data.

"The solution will offer real-time updates on road conditions, including travel hotspots, and provide management systems and a control platform."

Both the static and dynamic data will be offered on an open-source information exchange, and will be accessible through mobile apps, SMS, online journey planning tools, internet media and other mobile phone platforms.

The company selected to implement this project will be responsible for system hosting, system design, back-office system and software.

In order to invite the bidders, TfGM will be hosting a bidder’s open-day, which will feature a short presentation on the scope and timeframe of the procurement process, on 19 February 2013.

TfGM is the public body responsible for co-ordinating public transport services throughout Greater Manchester, in North West England.


Image: Manchester, a city in Greater Manchester county, is a sprawling urban area with a traffic problem.