The United Kingdom can make claim to be the birthplace of modern ITS. The earliest applications of computer technology to traffic control took place in the 1960's with the Road Research Laboratory, the forerunner of today's TRL, undertaking fundamental research into the co-ordination of signals. This resulted in the TRANSYT signal co-ordination programme, which is still the world standard against which all others are measured. The first traffic control test sites in Glasgow and London were introduced in 1968, and the first citywide traffic control system installed in Leicester in 1974. Today almost 100% of all traffic signals in the UK are monitored or controlled by centralised co-ordinated systems. Indeed the UK can claim to be one of the few countries in the world with such a comprehensive urban control system. At the Turin ITS World Congress, the UK will give a showcase presentation highlighting the use of ITS in managing the strategic road network across the UK. For the covering abstract see ITRD E114174.
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