Highways England has awarded Sopra Steria the National Traffic Information Service contract to provide round-the-clock real-time traffic information about England’s busiest roads.

Highways England describes the NTIS service as a “vital tool” for its operations teams and the emergency services to keep traffic moving and respond to incidents as efficiently as possible, and also helps road users plan their journeys, avoid delays and stay safe on England’s motorways and major A roads by providing the latest information to journey-planning website TrafficEngland.com and to the electronic message signs on the network.

Meryl Roberts, Highways England’s Operations and Performance team leader, 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.

Paris-based global company Sopra Steria has more than 50 years’ experience in implementing technology solutions, including consultancy traveller management systems, geographic information systems and the optimisation of transport systems.

Adrian Fieldhouse, Managing Director of the company’s Government Sector, said they’d be, “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.”

NTIS began life in the mid 2000s as the National Traffic Control Centre run by Serco, before the NTIS contract was won by a WSP-Thales joint venture. Sopra Steria will run the service for an initial five years, with an option for the £41.85 million contract to be extended for a further two years.

(Picture – Gov.uk)