Highways Agency fast lane traffic monitoring scheme worth £200m

The Highways Agency is planning a major new traffic monitoring system.

The Agency has allocated up to £200 million to deploy and run the system, including data collection, information transfer onto central systems, traffic intelligence and analysis, and information links with the agency’s customers and business partners.

The systems is part of a new National Traffic Information Service, which aims to improve the traffic data held by the agency, which is responsible for all large roads in England. The Highways Agency is part of the Department for Transport, and manages £75 billion worth of roads and traffic signals.

The HA last week began looking to create an £80 million asset management system to improve data on the state of England’s roads, signals and street lighting. The system, it said, would help it manage maintenance.

They may also be required to add further capabilities, such as traffic monitoring on smaller roads.

The deadline for expressions of interest is 12 October. Evaluation of the bids will be weighted 70 per cent on the quality of the proposed system and 30 per cent on price, the agency said.

The agency’s IT infrastructure is run by Atos Origin under a £75 million five year deal signed in 2008.