York is taking a lead in how it uses technology to manage traffic flows across the city and help reduce pollution.

It is the first in the country to use ‘intelligent data hubs’ so council staff can view traffic as it happens and make better-informed decisions.

Sensors across York looking at the movement of traffic are now linked to one central Data Hub, with recent innovations featuring ‘dashboards’ giving council staff an easier view of what is going on.

The technology is part of the council’s Smart Travel Evolution Programme (STEP), which received nearly £3m of government funding in 2018.

Phase one of the scheme, introduced earlier this year, saw improvements made to the network of sensors to better collect the data to help council staff in their decision-making.

Phase two, in partnership with Cambridge-based Alchera Data Technologies, has since seen the introduction of specialist devices which can monitor traffic movements ‘live’ and then make predictions.

Dave Atkinson, Head of Transport at the City of York Council, says he expects the Alchera’s Alpha system to be fully working by the end of the year.

Dave said: “Previously, the council has monitored the network through staff checking CCTV and social media feeds, with network monitoring operators and transport engineers manually implementing new signal changes to better manage the flow of traffic in busy periods.

“Alpha will be the data powerhouse integrating with cutting-edge traffic modelling software to provide network optimisation and predictions.“

Anna Jordan, Co-Founder at Alchera Technologies, says when you manage large and complex cities, it is essential to be able to respond to things as they happen.

She said: “Our largest system integration combines thousands of sensor sources and performs hundreds of thousands of measurements every day. This represents the only demonstration of absolute, real-time traffic counts and classifications, at city scale, in the UK today.”

Anna confirmed her company’s systems will help City of York gather a variety of data in its transport control room. The data covers matters like traffic movements and air quality and using the technology should bring many benefits to the council.

“This includes systems running better, buses running on time and less congestion. It will lead to better infrastructure for people. We will have bus lanes and bus routes that make sense. We will also have cycle routes that make sense. This is because our technology looks at how people and their vehicles actually move,” she added.

Further ahead, STEP will also allow York to prepare for connected and autonomous vehicles.