ESCOTA operates a motorway network covering 430km in south east France. It has seven operational units (districts), responsible for traffic control, safety, toll collection, infrastructure and maintenance. One of its motorways, the A8, runs between the Aix-en-Provence area and the Italian border, not far from the Mediterranean coast. It passes through an urban and suburban environment and a mountain region, and has 17 tunnels and 20 viaducts. Faced with rising traffic congestion and unable to widen the motorway, ESCOTA decided to devise its MIGRAZUR operations assistance system, designed to: (1) sustain the capacity of the A8; (2) improve the A8's safety and level of service; and (3) provide assistance to drivers and improve their comfort, according to their increasing expectations. MIGRAZUR is fitted with surveillance by video cameras only and uses an expert system. It has been operational since May 1995, and it has already had several significant effects. Its incident detection and traffic monitoring systems are so good that drivers can be warned about an incident within three minutes of its occurrence. It also allows for variations in the duration of events and in the number of events detected and processed. It is so successful that ESCOTA plans to extend it to three other sections of its motorways.
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