Kapsch TrafficCom has been awarded a contract as part of Barcelona City Council’s ambitious “Pla Endreça,” a modernisation initiative aimed at making the city’s public spaces cleaner and more secure.
The initiative has a budget of €435 million with more than 3,000 actions planned all around the city, and millions of people, citizens and visitors alike, will benefit from the improved public infrastructure. The contract for Kapsch TrafficCom, valued at €4.9 million, will be executed over two-and-a-half years and focuses on upgrading critical traffic infrastructure in four of the ten districts of Barcelona, improving traffic for more than 500,000 district inhabitants and more than 10 million tourists visiting Barcelona every year.
Juan Zamakona, General Manager of Kapsch TrafficCom Spain and Portugal, emphasizes the significance of the project:
“Barcelona is taking a major step toward a smarter, safer, and more sustainable urban mobility network. Through this contract, we will be upgrading hundreds of traffic management components across four districts, including the installation of new EcotrafiX controllers, replacing outdated infrastructure, and improving accessibility for all pedestrians. Our long-standing expertise in traffic solutions, with over 30 years of maintenance experience in the city, positions usperfectly to deliver an efficient and future-proof system.”
The contract encompasses multiple enhancements to Barcelona’s traffic management infrastructure including:
• Replacing and integrating modern traffic controllers
• Enhancing pedestrian safety with new traffic lights for blind pedestrians
• Replacing outdated wiring and implementing fiber optic communications
• Improving access control with retractable bollards
• Deploying uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to ensure operational continuity.
Kapsch will be responsible for maintaining the intersection systems around the clock, including blind pedestrian assistance systems, access control, vehicle detection loops, priority bus systems and fire brigade corridors, among other elements. A key component of the project is the integration of traffic controllers (the hardware that controls traffic lights) by Kapsch TrafficCom into Barcelona’s central traffic management system. Successful deployment hinges on passing compatibility tests with the city’s control center, ensuring seamless functionality and compliance with standardized protocols.
(Picture: Barcelona.cat)
