Vigilance can authoritatively report that Thales UK and its joint venture partner Mouchel were yesterday awarded a £57m, seven-year contract by the Highways Agency (HA) to provide traffic information to millions of road users using the strategic road network every day.

Vigilance learnt the new National Traffic Information Service (NTIS) will maintain the HA’s capability to:

• Collect data about traffic, planned events and current events

• Process this data to give a real-time national view of traffic conditions on the motorway and trunk road network

• Assess the impact of events and traffic flows so staff can make decisions on the best response

• Put those responses into action, including dynamic signing of traffic diversions and dispatching HA traffic officers to deal with incidents

• Publish traffic and event information through:

• roadside electronic message signs

• the HA (and in future DirectGov) website, for the public

• our Atlas service, aimed at business, professional and media users

• web services that are used to provide live content for hundreds of local media websites and are easily adaptable for use in social media

• mobile devices such as smart phones

• industry-standard data feeds that can be easily re-used, for example traffic information on Google maps

• Provide real-time traffic information to the travel news media for broadcasting on national and regional radio and television

• Provide information for the HA and others to assess the overall performance of the strategic road network

Roads Minister Mike Penning said: “I welcome the award of this new contract which will deliver considerable savings while still providing the information services for drivers using motorways and other major roads in England.”

“The National Traffic Information Service is central to the Highways Agency’s role of managing traffic and making the most efficient use of the existing network. Timely and accurate traffic information helps both private and commercial road users to plan their journeys, avoiding delays and congestion that add to the cost of journeys.”

The programme, it is said will replace the existing traffic data processing and publication elements of the existing 10-year National Traffic Control Centre contract with a more efficient one, providing better value for the taxpayer and continuing to provide up-to-the-minute traffic information for road users using motorways and major A-roads in England.

Alistair McPhee, VP of Thales UK’s transportation systems business, disclosed: “Thales UK, with its Joint Venture partner Mouchel, have been awarded this important contract by the Highways Agency to support its significant investment in a service-based technology solution for the travelling public.”

Mr McPhee added: “We will provide greater visibility of options to drivers so that they can make informed travel decisions. This contract builds on Thales UK’s existing expertise in the live traffic information market, in particular our real-time rail information services.”

Whilst Jeremy Wray, Operating Group Director for Mouchel’s highways consultancy business, enthused: “Mouchel, with its joint venture partner Thales UK, is delighted to have won this contract which, as well as delivering better value for money for the taxpayer, will use the latest technology platforms to improve travel information for millions of road users.”