The Smart Operator of the future will be the Safe Operator. Increasingly highway administrations will realize that besides introducing new technology to produce Smart Roads, making better use of available road space, they will need to develop a holistic approach to operating road networks and delivering services. Highway operations need to be integrated with those services provided by others, such as travel and haulage operators, besides developing stronger partnerships with vehicle manufacturers to influence the development of Smart Vehicles. Pro-actively managing traffic across their networks rather than simply reacting to incidents managing congestion and balancing demands at a strategic level. Congestion has the potential to produce higher accident rates, on high-speed inter-urban roads perhaps by as much as twice the normal accident rate to that in free flow conditions for example, on the approach to queues. It will be essential therefore, to gain maximum leverage from investments in new technology to counter that affect. Becoming a Smart Operator will enable that leverage to be maximized by providing opportunities to proactively counter congestion and deliver safer roads. The aim will be to gain from the whole being worth more than the sum of the parts with the Smart Operator catalyzing the synergies that exist between Smart Roads and Smart Vehicles. This paper aims to show: (1) how being a Smart Operator also produces a Safe Operator; (2) the measures the Highways Agency has introduced since taking on the role of Network Operator; (3) the synergies between congestion management and safety measures; and (4) the Highways Agency's plans which lever further benefits from technology.
Samenvatting