This article describes the developing system in the city of London, UK, to create a new traffic control centre for better traffic flow and a more reliable and safe public transport system. Staff for the centre are drawn from the police, bus operators, and network managers working in partnership. Intelligent transport systems technology being employed includes advanced closed-circuit television cameras with low light sensitive lenses, use of the split cycle offset optimisation technique to monitor congestion, specialist computer software to interpret this data, and video wall technology using digital light processors and plasma screens. The increased effectiveness of monitoring enables not only congestion and incident detection but can be used to reduce the incidence of crime. As part of this strategy, extra police are being deployed on public transport. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118381.
Abstract