The global transport modelling firm Aimsun is in the running for a major award in recognition of a solution it’s pioneered to fuse transport modelling, live traffic information and air quality monitoring to better manage traffic flow.
The NEVFMA solution, delivered for National Highways with Earthsense, Oxfordshire County Council and Yunex Traffic is in the running to win the Best Use of New Technology in the Highways Industry category at the Highways Awards next month.
NEVFMA stands for the Network Emissions and Vehicle Flow Management Adjustment project and uses modelling and ITS to predict improvements in traffic flow targeting the mitigation of harmful NO2 emissions on the Strategic Road Network and local roads in Oxfordshire. It has been shown to reduce emissions by 14% and have a positive effect on air quality 66% of the time.
The project fuses real-time traffic information, data from air quality sensors including a new signal infrastructure integrated design, with transport modelling. The solution manages traffic by predicting congestion and testing mitigation strategies before the jam or air quality exceedance have built up. Early indications show a potential saving in peak-period emissions between 4 and 14%.
“What I like about this project is that it uses resources that almost every local authority already has to make a real difference,” commented Aimsun’s UK Managing Director Gavin Jackman. “They have an urban traffic control system that allows traffic light signal timing to be adapted in real time as traffic conditions require, and they own variable message signs and have links with radio broadcasts and sat nav devices to interact with the driver. They have access to accurate traffic information and air quality data. Any equipment they do not have is relatively inexpensive. So by using the NEVFMA concept, they can better manage their traffic, keeping vehicles away from areas with a high concentration of pollutants and better managing the demand on the network to level the load across roads. The system reuses existing authority assets to develop, giving both an accelerated start up time of under nine months, and excellent value for money.”
The Highways Awards take place on Wednesday 20 October in London.
(Picture – Aimsun)
