Oxfordshire County Council installed a new Videalert automated platform to reduce journey times and improve air quality in and around the City of Oxford by better enforcing bus lanes.

The move to the new camera system is also aimed to support the increase in cyclists expected as more people are able to move around as the lockdown eases, as well as protect bus journeys for those who need to use public transport.

The system uses the latest ONVIF-compliant HD ANPR cameras that deliver higher quality images to improve capture rates for contraventions.  This is enhanced by combining ANPR and video analytics to identify only the vehicles that are actually committing offences.  The system further allows the use of a whitelist of vehicles that can legitimately use the gates including buses, emergency vehicles and maintenance vehicles.  The high quality images captured with Videalert’s HD cameras will also help to minimise discard-rates and reduce the number of appeals.

Captured evidence packs are transmitted and stored on Videalert’s hosted digital video platform where they can be accessed and reviewed securely over the internet.  Validated evidence packs are sent to the council’s back office system to issue penalty charge notices (PCN).  Videalert’s flexible hosted platform makes it a quick and cost effective process to deploy enforcement as it does not require the installation of any IT at the council’s offices.

Cabinet member for highway operation and delivery Cllr Liam Walker said, “ANPR is more efficient and allows greater flexibility to review potential contraventions after the event. As we start to see lockdown being freed up we want to see more people switching to sustainable transport – cycling, walking and public transport are all preferable to driving for so many people.”