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Nov/Dec 2003
Using intelligence to crack the congestion conundrum
A new body has been set up to consider ways of harnessing geographic intelligence to tackle transport-related problems. Sharon Clancy reports The UK Government has already committed £180 million to reducing congestion under its present Transport Plan; but when will its targets be achieved? The prospects are mixed at best - or at any rate, that was one of the conclusions emerging from a forum held in November by a new organisation, Geographic Intelligence for Transport (GIfT). Delegates acknowledged that congestion was getting substantially worse, but believed there was little help currently available to businesses to enable them to respond to the challenge. Chris Welsh, a regional director at the Freight Transport Association, said his organisation's view was that congestion was already causing substantial rises in costs, and it would grow by 22 per cent over the period of the Transport Plan. "If geographic intelligence applications are to help alleviate congestion problems there needs to be more standardisation of data and system platforms and development of low-cost solutions." 
Mapping of course has a major role to play in this field. Many m.logistics readers will already by already familiar with Ordnance Survey's digitised MasterMap dataset of the UK, and its increasingly important role in mapping applications. Its Integrated Transport Network layer is intended to provide detail on road routing and vehicle weight and height restriction attributes, said OS consultant Mark Lepage, and offers operators "realistic opportunities to plan alternate routes to avoid known or actual congestion." A speaker from OS partner Dotted Eyes said the ITN data provides an excellent geographic framework for congestion-easing applications - not least because the UK's national mapping agency is committed to maintain the database. Rana Ilgaz from Highways Agency partner FaberMaunsell talked about the role of the HA. It produces the Traffic Map, a summary for motorways and trunk roads of key delays and incidents. The HA already provides real-time traffic information on the Web, with speed and flow data measured using sensors under the road; but the data quality was about to achieve "a quantum leap" said Ilgaz, with a new Traffic Control Centre (TCC) that would collect traffic data from many sources, and consolidate and validate it. In Europe, the Open Traveller information services Access Point (OTAP) is due to go live in December 2003. Its aim is to provide consolidated road traffic information across participating countries in Europe (England first, Wales and Scotland later). Illaq says OTAP will play a leading role in establishing data interchange standards Nick Simmons, business development director of traffic-data collection specialist ITIS Holdings, said measuring congestion levels was important. "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." He said historical route analysis could help operators plan around congestion and allow local authority and other planners to assess the impacts of measures such as the London Congestion Charging Scheme. Simmons said transport network providers need to think of themselves as service providers. "Road users are customers and congestion management is a service to those customers." Identifying future needs Workshop sessions held during GifT's inaugural forum identified two key short-term needs and one medium term need that would help businesses manage congestion. Short-term geographic intelligence needs that were not currently being adequately met included up-to-date paper maps tailored for freight users; and alternate route information and content that was sensitive to the context. Needs that were being partially met (between 50 and 80 per cent) included coordinated information on street works, local urban information, and a one-stop information centre for freight. In the long term, the workshop identified three key needs: provision of services that people wanted, changing public perception, and a change in cultures and lifestyle. GiFT says the workshops had helped reassure members that while there was still a great deal to do, at least some progress was being made. Loose alliance Geographic Intelligence for Transport (GIfT) is a lose alliance of parties interested in "geographic intelligence" - which in a sense describes the strategic use of geographic information systems. GifT membership includes organisations such as Ordnance Survey and its partners, Highways Agency, consultancy FaberMaunsell, and users of geographic intelligence data. Its aim is to identify how location-based data and geographic intelligence services can help resolve some of the problems the transport industry is likely to face over the next few years, and how those services need to develop. At m.logistics magazine we welcome any initiative bringing the potential of practical benefits to transport, logistics and service management companies. GIfT plans a series of forums on various topics; the one on congestion was among the first. Gift members
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